DALLAS -- A balanced scoring effort helped UT Tyler mount an upset bid on the road at No. 10-ranked Dallas Baptist University Saturday afternoon, but DBU responded with six consecutive points heading down the stretch to hold off the Patriots' upset bid in a 69-60 victory over UT Tyler.
Ty Glover and Micah Fuller shared the team scoring lead with 11 points, and Quinn Smith added 10 points, while Bradley Mason (9 points) and Darius Alford (8 points) led UT Tyler to a 23-12 edge in bench scoring. The performance nearly gave the Patriots their second straight Lone Star Conference win after UT Tyler posted their first LSC win Thursday night at Tarleton.
Instead, UT Tyler dropped to 4-6 overall and 1-4 in the Lone Star Conference with Saturday's defeat, while 10th-ranked DBU improved to 10-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play after narrowly avoiding its second straight defeat at home. DBU opened the season with a 9-game winning streak and ascended to the top-10 of the Division II men's basketball national rankings earlier this week.
Turning Point: DBU's Chandler Jacobs scored 18 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, and 9 of those points sparked a 13-5 run which turned a two-point DBU lead into a 51-41 advantage with 12:51 remaining. Although Darius Alford and Bradley Mason hit consecutive treys to slash the lead to 51-47, Jacobs capped a 7-0 DBU run with another three-pointer to keep an 11-point cushion, 58-47, with 9:09 to play. Then, after Chris Giles scored on a layup with 5:23 left in the game, DBU answered with another 6-0 run with the last four points provided by Jacobs to put the game away.
How It Happened: Ty Glover and Quinn Smith scored 8 points each in the first half, helping cut several double-digit first-half deficits into a 38-34 DBU halftime edge. Smith hit two three-pointers in the first 2:30 of the game, helping the Patriots take an early 8-4 lead, and a Bradley Mason trey five minutes into the game gave UT Tyler an early 11-8 edge. However, DBU responded with a 13-4 run, taking a 21-15 lead with 11:11 left in the first half, and DBU extended the lead to 10 points twice in the first half before UT Tyler scored 8 of the final 10 points of the first half to knock the halftime margin down to a four-point spread.
Glover opened the second-half scoring to cut the lead to 38-36, but that's when Chandler Jacobs sparked DBU to a 13-5 run that pushed the lead to 51-41. Jacobs seemingly answered each UT Tyler challenge the rest of the way, helping DBU maintain at least a five-point lead throughout the final 11:20 of the contest.
UT Tyler Standouts: Ty Glover and Micah Fuller scored 11 points each to lead the Patriots, and Quinn Smith joined them in double figures with a 10-point effort. Glover tied a season-high with a game-high 10 rebounds, posting his second double-double of the season. Bradley Mason and Darius Alford each hit multiple three-pointers, combining for 17 of UT Tyler's 23 points off the bench.
DBU Standouts: Chandler Jacobs led all scorers with 21 points, adding a team-high 7 rebounds as Carter Brown (11 points) and Conner Lidiak (10 points) joined Jacobs in double figures. Jonathyn Washington added 7 points and 6 rebounds.
By The Numbers: DBU shot 51 percent (24-for-47) from the field, while UT Tyler registered a 44 percent (20-for-45) overall shooting percentage… However, UT Tyler was better from long range, hitting 53 percent (8-for-15) on three-pointers to DBU's 40 percent (6-for-15) from long range… Both teams shot an identical 75 percent clip (UT Tyler: 12-for-16, DBU: 15-for-20) from the free throw line… DBU posted a 27-22 rebounding edge and notched a 17-14 margin in points off turnovers and a 34-24 margin in scoring in the paint… DBU held the lead for nearly 34 minutes, but its largest lead of the game was 11 points (58-47) with 9:09 left in the game.
What's Next: UT Tyler is back in action after the New Year, resuming Lone Star Conference play after an 11-day break with home games against divisional foes Midwestern State (Jan. 2) and Cameron (Jan. 4).
