THE RUNDOWN
DBU won its second straight game with a 77-73 victory over St. Edward's Saturday afternoon at the Burg. The Patriots (8-6, 2-1 LSC) erased a 15 point first-half deficit to climb past the Hilltoppers (8-7, 1-3 LSC) in a back and forth second half that featured nine ties and seven lead changes. A steal by Austin Garner in the final 20 seconds forced St. Edward's to foul and sent DBU to the charity stripe for the game-clinching free throws. 

A slow start from the Patriots' offense put the Hilltoppers ahead for most of the first half. DBU opened just 2-of-12 from the floor and relied on excellent free-throw shooting (22-of-26) to stay within reach of SEU. But the Patriots continued to plow forward, igniting a 12-2 offensive run that energized the Burg Center and cut the deficit to 33-31 at intermission. 

DBU drilled two of its first three shots to take a 35-33 lead in a contentious second half. Both squads stayed within a bucket of each other until St. Edward's built a six-point lead with 10 minutes remaining. A layup from Garner and a technical foul on the SEU bench then sent Carson Hughes (12 points, 5-of-6 FT) to the line and brought the Patriots back within two. 

DBU finally took over at the two-minute mark and never looked back. Following an over-the-shoulder layup from Julian Miranda, Jalen White (12 points, 4-of-8 shooting) began to punish the Hilltoppers under the basket. The late steal and free throws by Garner (12 points) and Miranda (team-high 14 points) then shut the door on St. Edward's and gave DBU its second win of the week. 

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 
-DBU improved to 2-1 in Lone Star play and now ranks sixth in the conference standings.
-Cameron Kahn (10 points, nine rebounds) was the fifth Patriots to score double figures.
-DBU made a season-high 22 free throws. 

COACH BLAKE FLICKNER ON THE COMEBACK WIN
"We knew this was going to be a mentally tough game. St. Edward's doesn't waste possessions, they run a lot of sets, and they probably execute better than anybody in the league. We knew we had to stick together and absorb some tough stretches. I thought the guys really responded to our adjustments throughout the game... I also want to give a shoutout to Jalen White. His poise and presence down the stretch to get us some tough baskets was huge." 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 
9 - St. Edward's mustered just nine points from its bench compared to 23 from the Patriots. 
12 - Jalen White scored all of his season-high 12 points in the second half. 
16 - SEU's Daniel Venzant and Bennett Mohn each scored 16 points. 

UP NEXT
DBU heads to Odessa, Texas, to face UT Permian Basin on January 13. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.