THE RUNDOWN

No. 6 ranked DBU (20-3, 12-2) steamrolled through the Oklahoma Christian Eagles (6-13, 3-11) Thursday night, winning by a 27-point margin. Ricky Lujan and Trevor Frank led the way for the Patriots offensively, tallying 22 and 20 points respectively. DBU had to once again climb out of an early deficit, trailing by as much as nine early on, but much like last Saturday afternoon, they would put the game away early into the second half. 

Despite the early deficit (12-21 12:20 1H), the Patriots were dominating the glass; a trend that would continue throughout the contest. DBU would go on a 12-0 run to reclaim the lead, capped by an AJ Borden and-one to make the score 24-21. For the remaining eight minutes of the first frame, DBU's dominance would continue as they closed the first half up 47-34. Ricky Lujan was perfect from beyond the arc in a game-leading 16-point effort through the first 20 minutes. Lujan had three more shot attempts than anyone else on the court in the first frame, as the Patriots ran their offense through the hot hand. 

The buzzer to begin the second half marked the beginning of the end for the Eagles and the start of a Patriot scoring spree. Trevor Frank sunk two free throws before rattling off three consecutive three-pointers a mere 2:43 into the second half. Frank wasn't the only one providing fireworks out of the halftime break, as Xavion Brown rocked the house with a windmill jam. Before three minutes had come off the clock, the Patriots had more than doubled their halftime lead and held a whopping 19-0 scoring run going back into the end of the first half.

DBU slowed the pace and controlled the rest of the game as they coasted to their 20th win on the campaign. With his 22nd point, Ricky Lujan passed Jordan McGowan (2012) to become the second-highest point scorer in program history. Lujan currently sits at 1920 tallies across his astounding career.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

- With tonight's win, the 2024-2025 Patriots tie the 2023-2024 squad for the best start in program history through 23 games (20-3).

- DBU had 22 more shot attempts than OCU tonight, the product of 17 offensive rebounds and a +10 forced turnover differential.

- The Patriots had 36 points off of turnovers, compared to OCU's 12.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

15 - DBU's unanswered point total to open the second half

34 - Cameron Kahn sits 34 points removed from 2,000 on his career (8 points, 3-10 tonight).

+11 - The Patriots finished with 11 more rebounds than OCU tonight (37-26)

POSTGAME INTERVIEW 

COMING UP NEXT

Patriot Hoops will put a bow on its four-game home stretch against Cameron (6-13, 3-10) on Saturday afternoon.