THE RUNDOWN
DBU (8-4, 3-1 LSC) suffered its first loss in over a month on Saturday evening in Portales, New Mexico, at the hands of Eastern New Mexico (7-3, 2-2 LSC). The defeat is the Patriots' first conference loss this season.
 
Offense was sparse in the first half. Over 5:30 ticked off the clock before Greyhound forward Jahcoree Ealy became the first player from either squad to successfully execute a field goal. ENMU managed to gain a lead as large as 10 in the first half, but a late surge by DBU gave the Patriots the 26-25 advantage when Jalen White hit shot from behind the arc.
 
The two-point margin favored the Greyhounds out of the halftime break, and they stretched it to seven, 38-31, in the opening moments of the second half. DBU responded quickly, taking the lead, 44-43, on a Ta'Jay Dunlap layup. The next several minutes were tightly contested, but ENMU pulled ahead in the last four minutes to hold off DBU. After scoring only 3 points in the first half, Patriot guard Ricky Lujan erupted for 12 in the second on 4-13 shooting.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The loss snaps the Patriots' seven-game win streak.
- Jalen White's streak of 13 consecutive field goal attempts without a miss ended when three-point attempt rimmed out in the second half. The streak dated back to a dunk in the first half of DBU's game against Dallas Christian on December 7.
- Cameron Kahn was held to a season-low two points in the game, tying his lowest scoring total since the second game of his collegiate career.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
16 - ENMU won the rebound battle by 16, 52-36.
29 - The two teams had a combined 29% field goal percentage (17-59) in the first half.
30 - DBU shot a season-low 30% from the field. (20-66).
 
BLAKE FLICKNER ON THE PATRIOTS' STRUGGLES
"Unfortunately, whatever good offensive mojo we had against Western New Mexico didn't carry over (except for Jalen White). Today, we really struggled to score. ENMU deserves the credit for that. They defended at a really high level, and that is two impressive defensive performances in a row by them. I felt like they were the tougher team today, and they deserved to win. We'll have to learn from this and come back after break and improve."
 
UP NEXT
The Patriots take a nearly two-week break before going back on the road to Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a showdown with UAFS on December 30.
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