THE RUNDOWN

Saturday afternoon the DBU Patriots (8-1) took down the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm (3-1) in a game that saw the Pats enter halftime trailing at home for the first time this season. The five-point Crimson Storm lead at the half was not enough, as the surging Patriots clawed back to win by 18. Ricky Lujan led everyone on the floor in scoring with 20, as Cameron Kahn and Trevor Frank contributed 16 and 14 respectively. 

In the first half of this contest, Southern Nazarene put on a clinic regarding offensive efficiency, scoring at an 81% clip from the field, with most of their points coming from inside. The Patriots dug themselves an incredible hole early on, missing their first 12 attempts from the field. Southern Nazarene's largest lead was ten, with less than seven minutes remaining in the first frame. DBU would scratch and claw back as they cut the ten-point deficit in half by the break.

The Pats would continue to breathe down the neck of the Crimson Storm for the first several minutes of the first half until finally, Trevor Frank gave DBU its first lead of the game from the free-throw line. Immediately following Frank's free throws, it was all gas for the Patriots. Late in the second half, DBU would rattle off a 15-0 run featuring back-to-back converted and-ones from Drew Calderon and Ricky Lujan, to increase the lead to double-digits. 

Trevor Frank scored a team-leading 11 points in the second half, to the tune of three buckets from beyond the arc and the previously mentioned free throws. Cameron Kahn and Drew Calderon would follow closely with nine and eight respectively. The dagger this afternoon was a sequence with two minutes left where Trevor Frank drilled his final three of the night, followed immediately by a Xavion Brown swipe off the inbound and slam.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

- The Patriots increased their winning streak to seven games.

- DBU leads the all-time head-to-head series against SNU 4-2.

- Ricky Lujan was a perfect 10-10 from the charity stripe this afternoon.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

1,666 - Ricky Lujan's career point total after this afternoon's game, as he passes Nick Fox (2013) to become 6th all-time in points in program history.

+23 - DBU's second-half point differential against Southern Nazarene.

100% - Xavion Brown led the Pats in second-half efficiency with a perfect shooting percentage (min. 3 attempts)

POSTGAME INTERVIEW

UP NEXT

Patriot hoops will pick back up on Wednesday as they open Lone Star Conference play against Midwestern State (5-1, 2-0 LSC) at The Burg Center.