THE RUNDOWN
Thursday night at The Burg Center, DBU (7-4, 3-0 LSC) took down No. 7-ranked St. Mary's (7-1, 2-1 LSC) 73-67, handing the Rattlers their first loss of the season and extending the Patriots' win streak to five.
Drew Calderon led everyone on the floor in scoring with a 20-point performance, fueled by a 53.8% shooting percentage.
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St. Mary's would open the scoring with a dunk, and after building a 5-1 lead early on, would hold a multi-possession advantage for the first chunk of the first half. Trailing 6-12, the Patriots would then uncork a 12-0 run, claiming their first lead of the game, and then some.
Jaden Shelvin's putback layup was the weight that flipped the seesaw, making it 13-12 at the time. DBU would hold onto its advantage for the duration of the first half, leading by as much as 12 at one point.
Dr. Blake Flickner's group shot an elite 46.7% percent from behind the arc in the opening frame. Going into the locker rooms, the Patriots' lead stood at 38-28.
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Six minutes into the second half, the Rattlers were able to cut their deficit to three points, and a minute and a half later, they would end up retaking the lead. With 12:30 remaining in the contest, DBU trailed 48-49, and the teams would trade punches for the next two and a half minutes. As the inhabitants of The Burg Center waited to see which of the two teams would begin to show some separation, the Patriots went on an 8-2 run that was capped by a
Justin Haire slam. As the squads exchanged buckets,
Drew Calderon nailed a three from the left wing that pushed DBU's lead to seven with four minutes left. Calderon's trey would end up being the final made field goal of the game, as the two groups traded free throws to make up the remainder of the final tally.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Tonight marked DBU's first victory over a ranked opponent this season.
- The Patriots pushed their win streak to five, and have won 14 of their last 15 against St. Mary's
- For the first time this season, DBU turned the ball over more times than its opponent did, but it didn't matter.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
6:18 - DBU held St. Mary's without a field goal inside the last six minutes and change of tonight's game.
14 -
Justin Haire turned in a season-high 14 points tonight, on top of leading everyone on the floor with seven rebounds.
50% -
Drew Calderon and
TJ Thomas combined to shoot 7/14 from three-point land tonight.
COMING UP NEXT
Following Saturday's victory, DBU will head to San Antonio to participate in the River City Holiday Classic. Tip-off for Tuesday's game against Rogers State is scheduled for 5 pm.
