THE RUNDOWN
No. 6 DBU suppressed a comeback from St. Mary's on Thursday night at the Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio, Texas, to claim a 91-90 win over the Rattlers. STMU trailed by as many as 14 in the second half and shrunk the margin to one with less than five seconds in the game as DBU held on to improve to 6-1 in conference play.
The Patriots jumped out to a 9-0 lead under a minute into the first half, capped off by a Cameron Kahn jumper. STMU, on an offensive surge, held DBU scoreless for two minutes until a technical put DBU up 21-10 after two Trevor Frank free throws.
Forcing 13 Rattlers turnovers, the Patriots led 37-24 until the Rattlers responded with a 6-0 run of their own, bringing STMU within seven with 4:21 left to play in the half. A Ta'Jay Dunlap jumper allowed the Patriots to open their own 9-0 run, putting DBU up by 16 points, their largest lead of the half. With 1:57 left in the half, the Rattlers would go a 6-0 run, cutting the Patriots' lead to 10, but DBU maintained their sizeable advantage and headed to the locker room up 50-38.
Near the midway point of the second half, STMU drew to withing four points of DBU. At the 8:19 mark, the Rattlers' Franklin Agu converted a three-point play with a layup and a made free throw to bring STMU to within two of the Patriots.
A Cody Stevens three-pointer assisted by Lujan would extend the Patriots' lead back to four, putting DBU up 84-80 with 4:05 left to play. The Rattlers' Tyler Caron's layup tied the game at 84 until a Jalon Johnson foul put Dunlap on the line, allowing DBU to secure their lead with two minutes remaining.
A pivotal out-of-bounds turnover allowed the Patriots to go up by five with 24 seconds left. With seven seconds left, the Rattlers hoped to tie the game with a three-pointer after a team timeout; Dunlap would extend the Patriots' lead to four after a personal foul on STMU led to two made free throws. On the fastbreak, Jones's three-pointer cut DBU's lead to one with one second left to play, but it wouldn't be enough as time ran out with the Patriots on top 91-90.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Cameron Kahn passed Patrick Burke for the fourth most rebounds in program history with 527.
- Cody Stevens set a season-high with 16 points.
- The Patriots scored 24 points off turnovers, opposite St. Mary's 11.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5 - Five Patriots scored double figures, including
Cameron Kahn (21),
Cody Stevens (16),
Ta'Jay Dunlap (12),
Ricky Lujan (10) and
Justin Haire (10).
24 - DBU totaled 24 points off of STMU's 20 turnovers.
81 - The Patriots shot 81% from the free-throw line.
DBU HEAD COACH BLAKE FLICKNER ON A GRITTY ROAD WIN
"It was a gritty road win tonight. We needed to be in a situation like this, which was a great learning experience for us. I am really proud of how we executed down the stretch. Cody stepped up today and made some big plays that were crucial. Ta'Jay's free throws at the end were clutch."
UP NEXT
The Patriots will travel to Austin to face St. Edward's on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 pm.
