THE RUNDOWN
The DBU Men's Basketball team survived a late scare from No.6 UT-Permian Basin in an 87-80 Homecoming victory Saturday. The Patriots led by as many as 13 points in the second half, and led by 12 with three minutes remaining.  Boy Van Vliet led DBU in scoring, pouring in 19 points to help lift the Patriots to the upset win over the Falcons.

The Falcons whittled that lead to four with 16 seconds left, as former Patriot Amari Bryant scored seven of UTPB's final 12 points, but a Conner Lidiak layup and Boy Van Vliet's final free throw put the game on ice for DBU.
 
The Patriots never trailed after jumping out to an early 5-0 lead. The tightly-officiated contest saw 51 fouls called in total, and both sides had to deal with key players facing foul trouble. Three of UTPB's starters recorded four fouls, as did four of DBU's starting five; Jordan Manse and JT Harris fouled out, while Patrick Burke and Carter Brown picked up four fouls apiece.
  
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Boy Van Vliet's 19 points gave him the team lead for the second straight game.
- The Patriots are 3-0 for the first time since the 2008-09 team started 8-0 on its way to an NCAA Regional Semifinal appearance.
- DBU had a 12-minute stretch where it did not hit a three-pointer.
 
DBU HEAD COACH BLAKE FLICKNER ON THE TEAM'S DEPTH
"If you would have told me Patrick Burke and Carter Brown would miss significant minutes, I wouldn't have felt very good about it. But we got some good minutes from Chandler Jacobs, Conner Lidiak and Zach Lord. They helped us tremendously."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
23 - DBU's bench scored 29 points, outpacing the Falcon reserves' total of six.
75.8 - The Patriots shot 75.8% from the free throw line. .Free throws accounted for nearly 29% of DBU's scoring total.
20.7 - Van Vliet is averaging 20.7 points per game.
 
UP NEXT
The Patriots face Cameron on Tuesday at the Burg Center.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.