THE RUNDOWN
The DBU Men's Basketball team opened the 2017-18 season with a convincing 89-58 win over Colorado Christian in the Heartland vs. RMAC Challenge at Brownson Arena in Grand Junction, Colorado, on Saturday.  Behind a Patriot defensive effort that forced 27 turnovers, including six steals by Carter Brown, DBU (1-0) held Colorado Christian (0-1) to just 30 percent shooting from the field.  Offensively, Patrick Burke led DBU with 20 points, while Jordan Manse and Chandler Jacobs each made their Patriots debuts and scored 16 and 13 points respectively.  Boy Van Vliet also added 13 points to go along with three assists.
 
A three-pointer from Manse in the game's first 12 seconds opened the scoring for DBU.  Van Vliet then quickly opened the Patriots' lead to double-digits with a layup that gave DBU a 15-5 advantage with 15:28 remaining in the half.  Burke would extend that lead out to 20 on a fast break bucket with just over three minutes left on the clock.  Moments later, a two-handed dunk by Burke with eight seconds remaining put the finishing touches on a half that saw DBU go into the break with a 47-24 lead.
 
In the second half, the Patriots continued to dominate on both ends of the floor as a Justin Lovvorn three-pointer gave DBU a 32-point advantage with just under eight minutes left to play.  Another shot from beyond, this time from Manse, lifted the Patriots to their largest lead of the night, putting DBU up 77-42 with 6:01 to go in the second half. 
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- DBU's victory over Colorado Christian marks the third straight year that the Patriots have opened the season in the win column.
- The Patriots dominated the paint, outscoring the Cougars 48-16 on the inside.
- DBU also won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding Colorado Christian 43-38.
 
DBU HEAD COACH BLAKE FLICKNER ON THE ALL-AROUND TEAM EFFORT IN THE WIN
"We had a really good team effort tonight.  The guys really defended well and played together with good discipline.  They executed their game plan and played their roles well collectively.  Carter's six steals were great and he was doing an outstanding job of being disruptive and getting some deflections.  Chandler Jacobs and Zach Lord also played well tonight in their first college game.  I though Zach really gave us a spark defensively on the glass.  We did a better job on the boards in the second half as well."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
49 - DBU shot 49 percent from the field in the win.
31 - The Patriots' 31-point win is their largest margin of victory in a season opener in program history.
8 - Zach Lord led DBU with eight rebounds in his collegiate debut.
 
UP NEXT
DBU faces Colorado Mesa in the final game of the Heartland vs. RMAC Challenge on Saturday at Brownson Arena.  Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. (CST).