THE LEAD 
In the second triple overtime game in Dallas Baptist University Men's Basketball Team history, the Patriots defeated the St. Edward's Hilltoppers 80-78. This improves DBU's record to 16-5 on the year, 10-3 in Heartland Conference play. 

Joey Miller led the way for the Patriots with 24 points, while Patrick Burke notched his second career double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.  Myles Johnson added 12 points of his own and Shannon Lilly registered a big day on the boards, grabbing 11 rebounds as well. 

In the first half of action, the Patriots held the lead for the majority of the period, only allowing the Hilltoppers to go ahead once. DBU would go up by as many as eight points in the first 20 minutes, where Miller scored 11 of his 24 points. The two teams went into intermission with DBU leading 31-27.

In the second half, St. Edward's continuously threatened the Patriots lead, eventually gaining the advantage, going up 39-38 behind a Quinton Lilley lay-up.  From then on, the two squads traded leads down the stretch. With :52 seconds left in the second half, free throws by SEU would give the Hilltoppers a 58-56 lead. The Patriots responded with Miller sinking two clutch free throws of his own to tie the game at 58. St. Edward's had a chance to close the game out, but a missed lay up gave the Patriots new life in overtime.

Through the first overtime, DBU built a 67-64 lead, capped off by a Lilly three pointer with 2:01 remaining. The Hilltoppers engineered a 5-1 run to eventually tie the score at 68-68, but was unable to clinch the game after missing a late free throw. 

In the second overtime of the afternoon, SEU fueled by Trey Lindey's 16 points, built an early lead creating a 74-70 deficit. Ground was quickly gained by the Patriots with a Joey Miller lay-up closing the gap to 74-72 with 2:07 remaining. With another opportunity to close out the game, SEU missed a lay-up that was rebounded by Lilly, leading to the game tying Burke lay-up. With the score tied 74-74, both teams were in store for another overtime. 

With only a total of ten points being scored in the third overtime, points were at a premium. The Patriots jumped out to a 78-74 advantage, but no lead was safe as St. Edward's closed in on DBU tying the score 78-78. In the final four seconds of the game, a Burke lay-up was able to close out DBU's wild finish, defeating SEU 80-78 and remaining in first place in the Heartland Conference.            
 
DBU HEAD COACH BLAKE FLICKNER ON THE TRIPLE OVER TIME WIN
"Really exciting game today and really proud of the way the guys continued to be tough under difficult circumstances and make big stops and rebounds when they needed too. The guys really stepped up against a great team From here to the end, it will be close and competitive and it was a good job to get a win in a close game."  
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 
- This was the second triple overtime game in DBU basketball history.
- This was the sixth game this season that the Patriots held their opponent to under 30 points in the first half. DBU is 5-1, when they do so.  
- Today's win is the first win by the home team in the last six meetings between the two teams. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 
59 - Total rebounds registered by DBU.  
38 - Number of free throws taken by DBU.
8 - The largest lead in the game.  

UP NEXT FOR THE PATRIOTS
The Patriots return to the Burg Center, where they will host the University of Texas-Permian Basin on Monday February 8. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.