THE LEAD
The DBU Men's Basketball team opened the Heartland Conference Tournament with a convincing 82-67 win over Newman on Thursday at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Four Patriots finished in double-figures headlined by Patrick Burke's 19-point performance.  Julian Miranda added 17 of his own, while Amari Bryant finished with 15 points and Myles Johnson scored 10.  The win places the Patriots (21-9) in the semifinal game on Saturday.
 
In a tightly contested first half that saw DBU fall behind 24-19, the Patriots retook the lead 25-24 on a Myles Johnson layup with five minutes remaining until halftime.  DBU would finish the half on a 15-3 run over the final five minutes to take a 40-27 advantage into the break.
 
The Patriots never loosened their grip on Newman (9-19) in the second half, as the Jets could not pull to within single digits the rest of the way.  Defensively, DBU held Newman to just 38 percent shooting from the field over the final 20 minutes and eventually extended their lead to as many as 20 points with 2:18 left on the clock. 
 
THREE THINGS YO YOU NEED TO KNOW
- DBU has now won 20 games for the second consecutive year.
- The Patriots' win over Newman marked their seventh straight victory against the Jets.
- For the second straight year, DBU will advance to the semifinal round of the Heartland Conference Tournament.
 
DBU HEAD COACH BLAKE FLICKNER ON NEWMAN HEAD COACH MARK POTTER'S FINAL GAME
"I want to thank Coach Potter.  He is a wonderful coach and a man of integrity and he is going to be missed in the league.  I am so grateful for his friendship since I came into the league."
 
DBU HEAD COACH BLAKE FLICKNER ON THE KEYS TO AN OPENING ROUND WIN
"I am most proud of the way our guys kept their poise early on and adjusted to some different looks Newman gave us.  I thought the IQ our players displayed to handle those changes on the fly was the key."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
26 – DBU scored 26 points of their points off of turnovers.
30 - The Patriots outscored the Jets by 30 points in the paint, 46-16.
8 – Julian Miranda dished out a team-high eight assists and is now tied with Shannon Lilly for the sixth most assists in a single-season in school history with 125.
 
UP NEXT
DBU will face the winner of tomorrow's matchup between Rogers State and Lubbock Christian on Saturday.  Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.