In their final game before the new year, the Dallas Baptist Men's Basketball Team fell on the road 69-55 to Division I foe, Oral Roberts.  The Patriots (4-5), stayed close throughout the afternoon and cut the Golden Eagles lead to eight with 1:18 remaining, but were unable to close the gap, as Oral Roberts (6-6) scored the final six points down the stretch.

DBU was led by redshirt sophomore, Jonathan Perry, who went for a team-high 15 points.  Redshirt freshman, Myles Johnson, joined Perry in double-digits with 11.  Oral Roberts was led by Shawn Glover, who came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points on seven-of-eight shooting from the field.  Glover also pulled down nine boards to finish one rebound shy of a double-double.  Only one other ORU player finished in double-digits, as Corbin Byford chipped in 15 of his own. 

"These exhibition games are a great learning experience for us," DBU Head Coach, Blake Flickner stated.  "Oral Roberts is a very well coached team with really good players.  I thought our guys really competed and I was extremely proud of our effort."

In the early stages of the first half, the Patriots tied the game at 13 with a shot from beyond the arc at the 13:12 mark.  On the next ORU trip down the floor, a steal from junior, Wesley Gipson, resulted in an easy bucket by Perry to hand the Patriots their first lead of the day at 15-13.  Following a Cory Carden steal, DBU added to their lead with a fast-break bucket from Charles Allen to make it 17-13.  

Forcing turnovers were a key for the Patriots, as the Golden Eagles turned the ball over 16 times on the afternoon, compared to DBU's nine.  Sophomore guard, Jason Genrty, led the way way for the Patriots with four of the Patriots 12 steals.  "It was great for us to win the turnover battle and I thought our guys did a great job of being aggressive with poise," Flickner said.

DBU would hold the lead over ORU, until Byford knocked down a shot to give the Golden Eagles a 20-19 edge with 6:18 remaining in the half.  ORU would finish the first half on a 15-5 run to take a 35-24 lead into the locker room at the half.

The Patriots would fall behind by 17 midway through the second half, before piecing together a run of their own.  Down 47-30, DBU would go on a 23-15 run and when Johnson connected on a three-point shot, the Patriots had cut the defecit to nine with 1:56 remaining.  A pair of free-throws by Perry would get DBU to within eight with 1:18 to go, before the Patriots would go cold down the stretch, missing their final five shots from beyond the arc.  

Despite the close loss, Flickner noted the opportunity for his young team to continue to grow.  "The game gave us an opportunity to learn situationally how to finish halves and close out games."  

DBU will now enjoy the Christmas break before returning to the court in Heartland Conference action at Rogers State on January 2nd at 3 pm.