TYLER, TEXAS - The University of Texas at Tyler men's basketball team finished the game with three consecutive three-point makes to win by one in a 69-68 victory over Midwestern State in their Lone Star Conference opener on Sunday afternoon.
 
Those three straight three pointers, the first two by senior Micah Fuller and the last and most important make from junior Paul Djoko, allowed the Patriots to escape with the win and move to 9-1 on the year despite never leading in the second half until their final basket. That final basket came with 16 seconds left on the game clock as Djoko pulled up from behind the three-point arc and connected to put the Patriots ahead by the eventual 69-68 final.
 
UT Tyler used those three-point shots to negate a poor shooting performance from the field in the second half of action, hitting on 50.0 percent (11-of-22) from beyond the three-point arc for the game. Graduate student Zaire Mateen finished his afternoon 4-of-5 from three-point range in route to a team high 16 points on the night, while Fuller's two late three pointers put him in double-digits alongside Da'Zhon Wyche with 10 points.
 
Midwestern State never pulled away after building a 42-35 halftime advantage thanks in large part to a pair of three pointers made with less than a minute remaining on the clock before the halftime break. The Mustangs never extended their lead to double-digits in the final 20 minutes of play, but led by nine at the 3:34 mark of the second half with the score at 64-55.
 
UT Tyler connected on five of their next six free throw attempts from that point forward to help close the scoring gap to just six with 2:15 remaining on the clock. Fuller drilled his first three-point shot down the stretch with 1:35 on the clock to make it 66-63 still in favor of Midwestern State, and then answered a quick basket from the Mustangs with his second straight three-point make with 55 seconds on the clock.
 
That drew the Mustang lead down to just two points at 68-66, and set the stage for the Patriots to successfully make a defensive stand on the ensuing Midwestern State possession. Djoko grabbed the rebound on the Mustang shot attempt to close out that possession, and then found position on the offensive end to knock down what would end up being the game winner with just over 15 seconds left of game time to put the Patriots ahead 69-68.
 
Midwestern State chose not to call a timeout following the Djoko make to put UT Tyler ahead for the first time since the 3:41 mark of the first half, and dribbled the length of the floor with just over 15 seconds left. The Mustangs put up three shot attempts, the second of which was swatted away for junior Milan Szabo's fourth blocked shot of the game, and then missed their final attempt at the buzzer to succumb to the 69-68 defeat at the hands of UT Tyler.
 
The storybook finish for the Patriots closed out an LSC opener for UT Tyler that featured 12 lead changes and saw the game tied 11 different times. Both units made better than 50 percent of their three-point shots while UT Tyler used 14 free throw makes to help keep pace in the second half despite making just 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) attempts from the field in the half.
 
Szabo led the rebounding effort for UT Tyler with seven on the night while Fuller and graduate student Eysan Wiley each hauled in four boards. Fuller also led the way for the Patriots with five assists and three steals.
 
The win kicks off the Lone Star Conference and 2022 schedule for the Patriots in style, and moves the team to 9-1 on the year after their second victory of the season over Midwestern State, the first of which was designated as a non-conference game. UT Tyler will hit the road next weekend for their second stretch of LSC competitors in Cameron and #3 West Texas A&M.
 
Thursday night's meeting in Lawton, Okla. against Cameron is slated for a 7:30 p.m. start while Saturday's afternoon contest in Canyon, Texas against West Texas A&M is slated for a 4 p.m. start.