THE RUNDOWN
Thursday night, No. 3 ranked DBU (2-3) took down Arkansas Tech (0-3) on the road in Russellville, giving the Patriots their second consecutive win after opening the year with three consecutive losses.
TJ Thomas and
Bishop Jones led the group with 16 points each, and the two shot a combined 11-19 from the field.
​
The teams were held in a 0-0 deadlock for roughly the first two and a half minutes of the contest, but once
Drew Calderon drilled a corner three to open the scoring, the Patriots wouldn't relinquish their lead at any point in the night.
Cody Stevens had an impressive first half up and down the box score, going 2-2 from the field, hauling in two rebounds, and plucking a team-leading three steals through the first 20 minutes. At the break,
AJ Borden led the team in assists with three, while six total Patriots had dimes to their credit in the opening half. DBU went to the locker room up 41-24.
​
In the Patriots' first possession out of the halftime break,
TJ Thomas splashed a three from the top of the key to give DBU a 20-point lead. That lead would get as high as 31 when
Bishop Jones threw down a dunk off his own steal, making it 69-38 with ten minutes remaining in the game. Seven different Patriots scored four or more points in the second half, led by Thomas and Bishop, who each had eight in both halves tonight.
​
Head coach
Dr. Blake Flickner has this to say after the win: "Good road win tonight, all the way around. Excited to find a way to be in the win column. X was special defensively, with seven steals and an overall great job on Donyae May, and it might have been the most connected we've been as a group on the defensive end. Cody, Trev, Bishop, and X all had 3 or more steals, and it was fun to see a couple of the new guys lead us in scoring.
​
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The Patriots have forced 30+ turnovers in back-to-back games for the first time in program history (31 tonight).
- DBU has taken the lead into halftime in all five games this season.
- The last time the Patriots were outdone in the steal department was February 20th, 2025, against Angelo State (nine steals to ten).
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
7 -
Xavion Brown set a career-high in steals tonight with seven, and is now tied with
Trevor Frank and Tylan Dean for the second-highest single-game steal performance in program history.
41.3 - Arkansas Tech turned the ball over on 41.3% of their possessions tonight.
0 - ATU's Donyae Mae, who entered tonight averaging 16.5 points per game on the young season, was held scoreless by the Patriot defense.
COMING UP NEXT
DBU will return to The Burg Center Saturday night for an electric homecoming game against St. Edward's (7-0).
