THE LEAD
The Dallas Baptist University Men's Basketball team defeated Northeastern State, 88-56, on Monday afternoon at the Burg Center in Dallas, Texas. Patrick Burke recorded a season-high 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting to help the Patriots get back to .500 on the season at 5-5. 

Boy Van Vliet joined Burke in double digits with 12 points, alongside a team-high five assists. Xavier Ledet led DBU with six assists, but was held scoreless in the win. In his second straight game off the bench, Amari Bryant hit 3-of-5 attempts from beyond the arc and finished with nine points. 

Burke scored early and often, scoring 11 points in the first seven minutes as the Patriots got out to a 16-2 lead. DBU continued to have hot hands from the field, shooting 6-of-8 as a team in the middle minutes of the first half to extend their lead to 36-18. Van Vliet scored eight of his 12 down the stretch of the first half, helping the Patriots to a 45-25 margin heading into the break.

The opening minutes of the second half mimicked the first half as Burke tacked on eight points in the first four minutes to reach the 20-point threshold for just the second time this season and increase the DBU lead to 30 points. After the hot start, the Patriots suffered a relative cold streak, shooting 2-for-10 from the field while still maintaining a 20+ point lead. With six minutes left in the contest, Burke made a layup to set a season-high at 24 points and followed it up with a three-point play the next time down the court to spark an 8-0 DBU run. The Patriots finished the game by converting 7-of-8 attempts to outlast the River Hawks.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - Patrick Burke shot 9-for-11 from both the field and the free-throw line.
 - DBU led wire-to-wire in both meetings with Northeastern State this month.
 - The Patriots' bench outscored the River Hawks' 35-20.

COACH BLAKE FLICKNER - ON KEYS TO THE VICTORY
"We moved the ball better. I was happy to see some of the freshman make some plays. It'll be good to have some good vibes going into a break."

PATRICK BURKE - ON THE MUCH-NEEDED WIN BY THE PATRIOTS
"We absolutely needed it. We couldn't go into the break with two hard losses. Today was a moral booster for the whole team."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
100 - Monday's game marked the 100th career game for Jordan Pratt, which ranks eighth all-time at DBU.
25 - DBU, the Heartland Conference leader in assists per game (19.44), finished with 25 in the victory.
7.3 - With nine assists Monday, Amari Bryant and Boy Van Vliet are now averaging a combined 7.3 assists per game.

UP NEXT
The Patriots get 12 days off before a New Year's Eve contest on the road at Texas A&M International in Laredo, Texas.