THE RUNDOWN
No. 16 DBU defeated Midwestern State, 76-55, in the Lone Star Conference quarterfinals Tuesday evening. The Patriots used a back-breaking second half (38 points on 54 percent three-point shooting) to bury the Mustangs under a 25 point deficit that they would not overcome. With the victory, the Patriots head to Canyon, Texas, to play second-seeded West Texas A&M in the conference semifinals.

The first half resembled the low-scoring, evenly matched dogfights that these teams have become accustomed to playing against one another. The Patriots held the Mustangs' sharpshooting duo of Luke Hamiton and Derrick Ogechi in check (3-of-11 from three), while MSU limited Chandler Jacobs to just two shot attempts in the first 11 minutes of action. William Heather scored 16 first-half points to keep a DBU offense afloat that relied heavily on Mustang mistakes (21 points off turnovers) in the first 20 minutes. 

Neither Jacobs nor the Patriots would need defense to jump-start the offense in the second half. The senior guard finished with a game-high 29 points on 70 percent shooting. DBU would stomach the punches of MSU's Pierre Sanders (17 points) to outscore Midwestern State by 17 points while holding MSU to a paltry 29 percent shooting down the stretch.

Heather finished with 18 points on a personal-best 2-for-2 from behind the arc. Freshman Ricky Lujan scored nine points while tying his career-high in assists (five). Jalen White tallied eight boards and a block to help DBU overcome MSU's league-leading rebounding attack. 

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
-DBU owns the 3-0 series lead over MSU. All three contests have taken place at the Burg Center.
-With the win, the Patriots have advanced to the second round of the conference tournament each season since joining the Lone Star.
- The DBU defense has now held opponents under 40 percent from the field in two of its last three games

HEAD COACH BLAKE FLICKNER ON THE WIN
"MSU is a great team that is really on the rise. I have a great deal of respect for them. Our whole team did. It's hard to beat a team three times in one season, but our guys rose to the challenge today... Will carried us offensively in the first half before Chandler absolutely took over in the second. This was one of our best defensive performances of the year. The LSC is a loaded league, and out of 17 schools, there are only four left vying for the tournament title."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2- Behind herculean performances from Jalen White and Chandler Jacobs (17 combined rebounds), DBU competed against the best rebounding team in the league, 30-28 on the glass. 
10- The Patriots took care of the basketball against MSU, committing just 10 turnovers. 
9- Chandler Jacobs has amassed nine steals over the last two games. 

UP NEXT
The third-seeded Patriots travel to Canyon, Texas, to compete against West Texas A&M in the Lone Star Conference semifinals on March 5.