Box Score

The Dallas Baptist Men's Basketball Team completed a four game road trip with a 77-70 win over Texas-Permian Basin on Saturday. The win lifts DBU (8-12, 5-8) to a 2-2 mark on the team's longest stretch of games away from the Burg Center this year.

Facing one of the top offensive team's in the Heartland Conference, DBU delivered one of their top defensive performances of the year, forcing 23 turnovers. "Today, we got a really special defensive effort from our guys," Partiot Head Basketball Coach, Blake Flickner said. "UTPB is a great team and they have guys that can really make tough shots, but I thought we did a great job today of disrupting their rhythm."

In a back-and-forth affair in the early going, DBU and UTPB (13-8, 7-6) found themselves deadlocked at 27 with 4:07 to play in the first half. A layup by Remy Ndiaye with 1:21 remaining, gave the Patriots a 35-31 edge that they would hold onto going into the locker room.

In the second half, DBU would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way. The Falcons would pull to within one on three different occasions, but the Patriots never surrendered the lead down the stretch.

Leading 55-52 with just under seven minutes to play, Ndiaye knocked down a trifecta for three of his 16 points, giving DBU a 58-52 advantage. UTPB would draw to within five, when the Patriots' Jonathan Perry delivered from downtown, putting DBU back up by eight, 65-57, with 3:32 to go. The Falcons would not come closer than six the rest of the way, as the Patriots closed out UTPB, 77-70, to even the season series between the two teams.

Leading the way for DBU was Perry, who scored a team-high 20 points on the day. Ndiaye fell just two rebounds shy of a double-double, as the senior from Senegal scored 16 and pulled down eight boards.

On the defensive end, the Patriots held the Heartland Conference's fourth leading scorer, Dwayne Soders, to a mere 10 points. "Remy and Chris Strong did a great job defending Soders all afternoon." With the strong defensive effort, DBU also held the league's the third best scoring offense to 14 points below their average.

Offensively, the Patriots shot 48% from the field, including hitting nine of 22 shots from beyond the arc, while limiting the Falcons to 33% from three point range. "I'm really proud of the way we competed on both ends of the floor and the resilience we showed today," Flickner remarked.

The win comes at a pivotal time for the Patriots, as they pull to within two games of fourth place St. Mary's, in the race to reach the Heartland Conference Tournament. The top four teams advance to the league's post-season tournament.

DBU returns home on Thursday night in a key matchup versus Arkansas-Fort Smith, who sits at 10-3 in conference action and one game behind Texas A&M International for first in the Heartland. Tip-off is set for 7 pm at the Burg Center.