THE RUNDOWN
DBU (9-4, 3-0 LSC) took down the Missouri-St. Louis Tritons (8-5, 2-2 GLVC) on Wednesday afternoon to extend the Patriots' win streak to seven, and conclude their time at the 2025 River City Holiday Classic.
Xavion Brown led the team in points (13) on a night where four different Patriots ended in double figures.
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The first half of this afternoon's game belonged entirely to Missouri-St.Louis.
Jackson McCabe would open the scoring with a layup, but the Tritons' Jake Hamilton responded immediately with his first of five threes in the opening half. The Tritons out-rebounded DBU 19-14 in the opening 20 minutes, and they held the Patriots to zero fastbreak points in the first half. DBU trailed by as much as 15 in the opening frame, and went into the halftime break trailing 41-33.
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The tide immediately shifted as the second half began: For the first 12 minutes of the second half, DBU didn't allow UMSL to string together more than three points at a time, while the Patriots were recording mini runs of eight, five, and four unanswered points to chip away at their deficit. With 11:50 remaining in the game,
Xavion Brown made a fastbreak layup that knotted the score at 56, and in their next possession,
Drew Calderon gave DBU their first lead since the game's infancy with a three. The Tritons would tie the game on two separate occasions in a comeback attempt, but they never took the lead.
AJ Borden (9),
Justin Haire (8), and
Xavion Brown (8) led the Patriots in scoring in the second half, as DBU cemented a comeback victory.
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Coach
Dr. Blake Flickner had this to say on the win: "Great come from behind win today against another top team. Guys really responded at halftime and stepped up. Excited for a little break before we return to LSC play."
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
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Xavion Brown finished one rebound shy of his second double-double of the season (13/9).
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AJ Borden shared the game lead in assists (6) with UMSL's Taye Moore.
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Justin Haire was a perfect 9-9 from the free-throw line this afternoon.
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS
85.7% -
Xavion Brown's team-leading 13-point performance was done on 85.7% efficiency (6/7 fg).
3 -
Jaden Shelvin recorded a personal season-high three blocks this afternoon.
2 - DBU committed just two offensive turnovers in the second half.
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COMING UP NEXT
DBU won't be in action again until January 2nd, when they will travel to face UT Permian Basin (4-7, 0-4 LSC).
