THE RUNDOWN
Defense was the name of the game on Saturday afternoon as the Patriots (12-10, 7-7 LSC) knocked off UAFS (9-12, 5-10 LSC) to a close a four-game home stand. Conference scoring leader, Payton Brown, was held to only 6 points, his 2nd lowest mark of his career.
 
The early stages of Saturday's contest were telling of the rest of the afternoon. The game's first nine shots all clanked off the rim. UAFS forward Jaxon Ingram finally broke the streak on a layup preceded by two offensive rebounds. Austin Garner answered with a layup of his own that initiated a 14-4 run for DBU. 
 
The two teams then hit another drought, as the score went unchanged for the next five minutes. Nearly 50% of the period's points came in the last 6:30 of the frame, and the Patriots took a slim five-point lead to the locker room.
 
The second half felt, in some ways, like a retelling of the first. DBU improved its field goal percentage in the frame from 30% to 44% and widened the gap to as many as 19. The Patriot defense continued to obstruct the Lions, and DBU walked away with two wins over UAFS for the 2022-23 campaign.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Cameron Kahn garnered a career-high 14 rebounds and 12 points on the way to his 4th double-double of the season and 3rd in the last 4 games.
- Ta'Jay Dunlap led DBU in scoring with 17 points along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
- Saturday's win marks the first time since at least the 2006-07 season that the Patriots won a game while scoring fewer than 50 points.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
17 - DBU's 17 turnovers are tied for the 2nd most the Patriots have committed in a game this season.
20 - DBU held UAFS to a 20% team field goal percentage, the Lions' worst shooting performance in program history.
35 - The Patriot defense also confined the Lions to 35 points, the fewest points UAFS has scored in a game ever.
 
BLAKE FLICKNER ON THE PATRIOT DEFENSE
"Really proud of our effort there. I thought we did a great job of staying locked in. They're [UAFS] very patient offensively, and you got to be mentally tough to play through some long possessions. And I thought we did a great job there of staying locked in throughout the game.
 
UP NEXT
The Patriots hit the road for a three-game away stretch. They'll face UT Tyler on Tuesday at 7:30 pm.
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