THE RUNDOWN
Thursday night at The Comerica Center, No. 20 DBU (25-6, 18-2 LSC) took down Texas A&M-Kingsville (13-16, 10-10 LSC) by a score of 88-67, advancing to the semi-final round of the 2026 Lone Star Conference Tournament.
Justin Haire and
Trevor Frank led the group with 16 and 14 points, respectively, shooting a combined 9-14 from the field and 10-10 from the line.
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Bishop Jones scored the first four points of the contest, sinking a post hook and making two free throws on the next possession. Kingsville would take an early 5-4 lead before the Patriots rattled off 13 consecutive points via five different scorers, with Frank's three-pointer serving as the final lead-changing bucket of the game. The Javelinas crawled back to within seven, trailing 19-12, before Jaden Shevlin drilled a three to push the Patriots' lead back to double digits. The teams would trade buckets for the next three minutes before Kingsville scored six unanswered points, inching closer to DBU's advantage. Across the next three minutes, the Patriots outscored the Javelinas 14-7, leading 45-35 with two minutes remaining in the half. The two squads alternated buckets until the buzzer, with Frank's inside jumper giving DBU a 49-38 lead entering the halftime break.
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Justin Haire led everyone on the floor with 12 points in the opening 20 minutes, shooting a perfect 4-4 from the field and 4-4 from the line. He also added two rebounds and two steals. The Patriots continued their free-throw success from the regular season finale, going 12-14 from the line in the opening half.
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DBU opened the second frame by sinking five unanswered free throws, making their lead 54-38. Across the next eight minutes, the Patriots outscored the Javelinas 14-9, building their lead up to 21 points with a little over ten minutes left in the half. Kingsville would go on a small 6-3 run to shrink their deficit to 18, but
TJ Thomas then sank a layup to bring the Patriot lead back up to 20, and it wouldn't dip below that mark for the next eight minutes of game time. DBU's lead wouldn't go higher than 24 points either, as the two teams traded individual buckets and four-point runs. Leading 85-64 with two minutes left,
Daniel Figueira drilled a left-wing three, giving DBU a 22-point lead. The two teams traded free throws to end the game as the Patriots advanced to the second round of the LSC Tournament.
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THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- DBU has now won ten consecutive games.
- The Patriots held the Javelinas without a field goal in the final 3:20 of game time.
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Drew Calderon and
Jackson McCabe led everyone on the floor with four offensive rebounds each.
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5 - Five different DBU players finished with five or more boards.
4 -
Drew Calderon swatted a whopping four shots.
3 -
TJ Thomas turned in a floor-leading three steals tonight.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE WITH HEAD COACH BLAKE FLICKNER, TREVOR FRANK, AND JUSTIN HAIRE
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COMING UP NEXT
The Patriots will take on the winner between (4) Western New Mexico and (5) St. Mary's in the semi-final round on Saturday. That game is scheduled to start at 12:00 pm.
