THE RUNDOWN
Trailing by eight points with 8:43 to play, No. 15 Arkansas Fort Smith battled back to take its first lead of the second half with 2:17 and held on to defeat No. 18 DBU 69-65. The Patriots (18-4, 8-3 Heartland Conference) had led for nearly 30 minutes before DaVaunta Thomas's dunk gave the Lions (19-4, 8-4) the lead for good. Patrick Burke's potential game-tying three missed its mark with six seconds, and Seth Hawley iced the game with a free throw.

Conner Lidiak and Chandler Jacobs led the Patriots with 15 points each off the bench. Boy Van Vliet added 14 and equaled Jacobs with a team-high seven rebounds. Thomas posted a double-double with 19 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Darrion Strong-Moore scored a game-high 22 points for UAFS. 

 THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The Patriots, who are undefeated at home, fell to 4-4 in road games.
- The loss was the Patriots' first when scoring fewer than 70 points.
- DBU remains in first place in the Heartland Conference.

DBU HEAD COACH BLAKE FLICKNER ON THE LIONS' STRONG FINISH
"UAFS finished down the stretch better than us today.  Thomas and Strong-Moore were great for them.  We had too many turnovers and allowed too many offensive rebounds to be able to win on the road.  We had our chances, but just didn't make the plays to close it out tonight like we have in so many other games this year.  They're good and you've got to bring your very best to beat them."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
.533 - Lidiak and Jacobs combined to make eight of 15 three-pointers for a .533 shooting percentage. The rest of the Patriots were 2-13.
.459 - DBU and UAFS combined to make 17 of 37 free throws for a .459 clip.
42 - The Patriots held the Lions to .357 shooting from beyond the arc, just the second time in the last six games they held their opponents to under 42 percent from distance. 
 
UP NEXT
DBU travels to Lubbock for a mid-week matchup with Lubbock Christian on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00.