THE LEAD
Behind a 25-point performance from Joey Miller, the DBU Men's Basketball team pulled out a 74-72 win over St. Mary's in San Antonio on Monday.  On a night in which Miller was nearly perfect from the field, the Patriots' senior guard went 9-for-10 from the field and was 4-for-4 from three-point range. 
 
Miller's biggest points of the night though came from the free-throw line.  With DBU (20-6, 14-4) down 72-71 with 26 seconds left to play, Miller drained two shots from the charity stripe to put the Patriots up by one.
 
Needing a defensive stop to keep their grasp on the top spot in the Heartland Conference standings, Miller stole the basketball from St. Mary's point guard, Kriston Minor, with four second remaining on the clock.  DBU would close out the Rattlers, as Shannon Lilly made one of his two free-throw attempts and Tim Simmons forced a turnover before St. Mary's Bryce Smith could get off a desperation shot at the buzzer.
 
In a game that saw the Patriots trailing 37-36 at the half, DBU stormed out of the break to go up by as many as 11 points with 9:47 left in the second half.  With a 61-50 advantage over St. Mary's (9-17, 5-13), the Rattlers steadily chipped away at DBU's lead, before eventually taking a 70-69 lead when Skyler Brooks tipped in a missed shot. 
 
After the two teams exchanged leads over the next minute-and-a-half, Miller connected on his two free-throw attempts to put DBU back on top in the final seconds.  With the win, the Patriots remain a full game ahead of UA Fort Smith and Rogers State for first place in the Heartland Conference standings.
 
DBU HEAD COACH, BLAKE FLICKNER, ON WINNING A CLOSE ONE ON THE ROAD
"That was a great, tough, gritty win.  We had to battle without Patrick Burke on the floor tonight and we were in foul trouble all night, but the guys really competed and helped each other.  Multiple guys had great games in different ways.  We had some really good individual defensive performances.   Jonathan Perry had six assists that were huge and Tim Simmons and Joey Miller really had great offensive games.  We went small and had some challenges on the glass, but we came up with a really big steal at the end of the game to get the win."
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- DBU holds a one game lead over UA Fort Smith and Rogers State in the Heartland Conference and will play both teams in the last two regular season games at the Burg Center.
- The Patriots won their 20th game, making it the first time since the 2008-2009 season that DBU has won 20 games during the regular season.
- DBU's last seven games have all been decided by four points or less.  In those seven games, the Patriots are 6-1.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
15 – Tim Simmons was the only other Patriot outside of Miller to score in double-digits, as he scored 15 points.
11 – DBU was outrebounded by 11 boards on the night.
18 – The Patriots scored 18 points off of St. Mary's turnovers.
 
UP NEXT
DBU returns to the Burg Center on Thursday night to face UA Fort Smith.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.