MEDIA COVERAGE
Television: CBS Sports
Live Video: CBS Sports Network
Live Stats: Newman Livestats

OPENING TIP – The Dallas Baptist Men's Basketball Team continues its final, three-game road trip with the second contest of the stretch on Saturday at Newman University. The Patriots (11-13, 7-9) will be looking to keep their post-season hopes alive as the tip-off begins at 11:10 AM. It is a special match-up as Newman hosts one of seven featured Division II Games of the Week on CBS this season.  
 
The Patriots enter Saturday's affair one-and-a-half games out of the final Heartland Conference Tournament seed behind Texas-Permian Basin. UTPB defeated the top-league team, Texas A&M International, 79-74 last Saturday, and was idle on Thursday when the Patriots fell in the opener of their road stint at Oklahoma Christian.
 
DBU is practically in a must-win game, and also hope that Lubbock Christian gives a little help as it hosts Texas-Permian Basin (14-9, 8-7) on Saturday at 3 PM.
 
A combination of a Patriots loss and Texas-Permian Basin victory on Saturday would clinch the fourth and final conference tournament seed for the Falcons, and eliminate DBU from post-season play.
 
UTPB concludes its campaign at home with contests next week against St. Edward's and McMurry, respectively.  

LAST TIME ON THE HARDWOOD – DBU was riding its longest four-game winning-streak of the campaign, including a three-game home stand, before Oklahoma Christian halted it on Thursday evening. The Patriots suffered a 77-60 setback on the road affair, and missed the opportunity to move a half-game behind UTPB in the Heartland Standings.
 
An early 3-2 lead for the Patriots quickly evaporated, as OCU rattled off a 12-0 run in a six-minute span. DBU did tie the score at 26-26 with 1:48 to play before the home team finished the first half with five unanswered points to lead 31-26.
 
Out of the break, OCU's Kendre Talley, sparked an 18-6 run with six of his game-high 23 points to open up a 49-33 advantage. The Patriots wouldn't narrow the gap more than eight points the rest of the way.
 
Redshirt freshman, Myles Johnson, poured a team-high 18 points in the setback. The Heartland Conference Player of the Week, Jonathan Perry, was the other player to break into double figures tallying 11 off the bench.
 
LEADING THE WAY – Perry continues to be the leading scorer on the squad with 422 points and moved to second in the Heartland Conference for total points after Talley from OCU racked up 23 points last night to total 424. The Kerrville, Texas, native also continues to be tops in the league with 17.9 points averaged per game (ppg). He also is shooting well from the charity stripe, boasting the highest percentage on the squad with an 84.6 clip.
 
The redshirt sophomore has claimed 22 double-digit scoring performances in 24 games on the campaign, while extending a season-long 14 games in a row to notch the feat. His personal streak also eclipses the lengthiest stretch on a campaign for DBU, toppling Nick Fox's 12-game span last year. 
 
In eight contests, the forward has eclipsed the 20-point plateau, including five of his past 10 games. The most recent came in a stretch of three-straight which has helped create the late surge, and also netted him Player of the Week honors for the Heartland this week.
 
Perry's career-high broke a school record earlier in the campaign, when the team-leader gathered 47 points in a victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State.
 
Sitting second on the team in scoring is senior, Remy Ndiaye, with 254 points altogether this year, and is averaging 11.0 a game. Most of the forward's damage has come at the Burg Center, home of the Patriots, but Ndiaye was a force in both of DBU's two huge wins on the previous road trip. He totaled 18 points, a season-high away from the friendly confines, in a victory at St. Edward's, and 16 for a monumental victory at Texas-Permian Basin a little over a week later.
 
The native of Dakar, Senegal has broken personal-bests in scoring twice on the campaign. He first notched 26 points at homecoming versus Mid-America Christian. A few weeks later, Ndiaye broke that feat with a 27-point scoring performance at home with Texas-Permian Basin.
 
He is DBU's biggest inside presence, and leading the team with 126 rebounds, averaging 7.1 a contest.
 
RECENTLY HOT – Johnson has come alive again the past two games, boasting team-highs in the scoring column with 20 and 18 points, respectively. The Arlington, Texas, native has totaled 238 points, averaging 10.8 ppg for a ranking of third on the squad. He has matched his career-high twice with 21 points at Rogers State and at home versus Oklahoma Panhandle State.
 
The forward has notched double-digit scoring performances in five-straight contests throughout most of January, counting for the second longest streak behind Perry. During that same stretch, Johnson passed the mark in six of seven games, averaging 14.7 ppg in that span.
 
Sophomore, Jason Gentry, continues his hottest stretch of the season after a 15-point performance on Monday. The guard boasted double figures in all three affairs of the home stand averaging 16.3 a contest, and dished a season-high eight assists. In the first pair of games, he tallied 17 points each tying the second season-highest in the scoring column on the year.
 
 A native of Hondo, Texas, the second-year starter has boasted eight double figure contests, with six occurring in the past ten games. The recent scoring surge has increased Gentry's points-per-game to a 9.0 clip entering last night's contest, which marks a season-best. His 17-point finishes last Thursday and Saturday are five-points short of his season-high, 22 points against Texas A&M Commerce at the Burg Center.
 
Junior, Wesley Gipson, sparked the Patriots offense off the bench the past couple of games at home, recording 11 points in both victories. The guard is averaging 8.3 ppg and has broken the double-digit mark eight times off the bench.

SCOUTING THE JETS – Newman (9-15, 6-10) fell in its most recent action at Arkansas-Fort Smith 95-91 in overtime. UAFS was ranked second in the Heartland Conference Standings, moved into a tie for first with Texas A&M International.
 
The Jets trailed 82-79 with 27 seconds to go in regulation, and a trifecta by Marquis Cuyler netted the game for the visiting team. Newman completed the final 2:12 minutes of the second half on an 8-2 run to force overtime.
 
After taking a brief three-point edge in the early part of the extra frame, the Lions surged in front 86-85, and eventually would take the lead for good 93-89 after forcing a Newman turnover with 33 seconds on the clock.
 
Five players reached double-figures in the exciting affair, led by Marquis Cuyler with a game-high 24 points. Landers Riddle was close behind chipping in 22. Rounding out the group was a trio including: Jeremy Espinoza (11), Ryan McCarthy (10), and Elhad Emerllahu (10).
 
The Jets were outshot 50-percent to 47-percent and were beat on the boards, 47-36.
 
SERIES HISTORY – The squads met earlier this season with Newman claiming the victory at the Burg Center 91-76. In the match-up, the Patriots were unable to slow down a hot-shooting club that fired 65-percent from the field and 67-percent from beyond the arc. DBU was ahead at half-time 41-40.
 
DBU was led offensively by Perry with 21 points, including a perfect seven-for-seven effort at the free throw line. The Patriots were excellent tallying a 16-for-18 clip at the stripe. Ndiaye tossed in 16 points, while Johnson was right behind contributing 12 to the double figure trio.
 
Five players broke the double-digit mark for the Jets, led by Cuyler with a game-high 22 points.
 
The Patriots are 4-9 all-time versus Newman University, and have dropped their past three meetings with the team from Wichita, Kansas. The last DBU victory occurred Feb. 4, 2012 at the Burg Center following a 79-69 win.
 
WORTH NOTING:  
-Dallas Baptist remains top-two in the league on three-pointers made with 193 entering the week.
-Also securing a similar spot in the rankings is average long-range shots drained per game at an 8.4 clip.
-DBU is forcing 14.9 turnovers a game compared to surrendering 13.2 of its own for a positive 1.7 margin.
-The Jets lead the league however in turnover margin with a positive 3.9 entering the week. They're forcing 15.6 on opponents and only giving up 11.7.
-Another factor helping Newman in ball possession is ranking near tops in the league with 7.8 steals per game.
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE – Dallas Baptist completes the regular campaign next Thursday, Feb. 27 at Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Tip-off is slated for 7 PM. If the Patriots qualify for the Heartland Conference Tournament, that set of games begins March 7-8 and is hosted by the top-ranked seed.