THE RUNDOWN
The fifth-seeded Patriots knocked off No. 4 seed Southern Arkansas, 83-61, late Friday night in the NCAA Division II South Central Quarterfinals. DBU (17-4) retires the Muleriders from tournament play behind a strong second-half performance in which DBU outscored SAU 49-32 in the final frame. 

DBU maintained an eight-point lead for most of the first half before the Muleriders defense found its traction down the stretch. SAU clamped the Patriots down over the final six minutes, forcing the Patriots into contested passes and using physical defense to create a barrier around the rim as DBU entered intermission clinging to a five-point lead in a 1-of-10 shooting slump. 

Three different Patriots would reach double figures after halftime as the DBU offense began to put Southern Arkansas away. William Heather, who scored a team high 12 points in the first half, would join Carson Hughes ( eight points, four assists) as a facilitator in the second. Chandler Jacobs bullied his way into 16 second-half points on countless drives to the rim and an 8-of-8 performance from the foul line. 

DBU's freshman also played a big role in the Patriots' scoring outburst. Cameron Kahn added 12 points in 12 minutes while Ricky Lujan (14 points) found his jump shot for 11 second-half points on 5-of-9 shooting. 

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
-The Patriots advance to the South Central Semifinals for a rematch against top-seeded West Texas A&M on Sunday.
-DBU's Chandler Jacobs is just 16 points shy of surpassing Braxton Adamson's (2007-2010) all-time scoring mark of 1917 career points.
-DBU improves to 4-2 all-time versus Southern Arkansas.

HEAD COACH BLAKE FLICKNER ON THE WIN 
"There's nothing like winning games with your brothers in March. This is where memories are made. Southern Arkansas is a super tough team that can really defend and rebound. I thought we did a good job matching their toughness.. We were finally able to break free in the second half and get the offense going a bit. There's a ton of praise to go around because it was a total team effort."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
20 -The Patriot defense hounded SAU into 20 points off turnovers.
28 -DBU limited the Muleriders' possessions with 28 defensive boards. 
23-7 -DBU's bench outscored the Southern Arkansas reserves, 23-7.

UP NEXT
The Patriots return to action on Sunday, March 14, in the South Central Regional Semifinals. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.