THE RUNDOWN
UA Fort Smith scraped past No. 13 DBU, 72-70, Sunday afternoon at the Stubblefield Center. A battle over the final rebound sent Fort Smith to the charity stripe with six seconds remaining, where the Lions would take the game's 11th and decisive lead change. With the loss, DBU (13-3) finishes the regular season with a 5-3 road record, while UAFS (4-9) ends a five-game losing skid.

The Patriots offense opened the game shooting a sizzling 80 percent from the floor. As DBU cooled off from the field, Fort Smith's Payton Brown began to heat up from behind the arc; the freshman guard poured in a game-high 25 points on 5-of-9 perimeter shooting. Over time, the Lions established a physical style of play that limited possession and made the Patriots pay for inefficient shooting (5-of-26 from three). 

Chandler Jacobs led the Patriots with 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Ricky Lujan added 14 points in his return from a lower leg injury, while Cameron Kahn (11) and Jalen White (10) concluded double-figure scoring.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
-UAFS snaps a four-game losing streak to DBU and leads the all-time series 13-12.
-A sweep of Western New Mexico next week would give DBU its best conference record in school history. 
-The Patriots are 2-2 in one-possession games this season.

COACH BLAKE FLICKNER ON THE LOSS
"It's hard to win on the road against a great defensive team. They really grind you and turn it into a low possession game... We needed more toughness, and we also needed to come down with more rebounds and loose balls. You have to be efficient in a low possession game, and we missed some wide-open shots. It is unfortunate how it ended but we need to grow from this as a team to prepare for the next one."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
19- The Patriots shot a season-low 19 percent from behind the arc.
9- The loss was DBU's first of the season when committing fewer than ten turnovers.
55.6 - The Patriots turned just 55 percent of their free throws into points (5-of-9).

UP NEXT
DBU will host Western New Mexico on February 26 and 27 to conclude the regular season. Tipoff for both games is set for 5 P.M.