Men's Basketball
Patriots held a seven point lead, with 11 minutes to play, over St. Edward's University on Monday night, but a couple of three point plays by the Hilltoppers and the game changed momentum. STEU used their momentum to run away from DBU and finish them off 77-69, giving DBU their second straight loss.
With the loss the Patriots fell to 5-11 overall and 1-4 in conference play, while St. Edward's improved to a conference best 12-4 and 4-0.
DBU took a 35-31 lead into the half after they went on a 25-9 run in the first half, riding the strong play of Senior Dwight Coleman, who scored nine points during the run. DBU also hit on four of five shots from beyond the arch and held St. Edward's to 33 percent shooting to capture the lead after one half of play.
The second half was full of runs, with St. Edward's going on an 11-3 run late in the game to extend their lead to eight points. The Patriots ran out of time and was never able to recover from the final Hilltoppers push. STEU picked up their shooting in the second half, connecting on 57 percent of their shots, while they held DBU to 44 percent shooting.
The Patriots continued to struggle with turnovers, committing 21, which led to several easy baskets for the Hilltoppers, while St. Edward's only committed 11 turnovers. The Patriots out rebounded St. Edwards 41 to 30, but the differential in turnovers turned out to be the difference in the game.
Senior Manny Montano had his best game of the season for DBU by scoring 14 points coming off the bench, while Coleman finished off his night with 13 points and six rebounds. Senior Erik Villarreal contributed with nine points and eight assists.
The Patriots will look to rebound from back to back tough losses on January 24, when they travel to Wichita, Kansas, to take on Newman University.
