SILVER CITY, N.M. – A fast start from senior Da'Zhon Wyche and a great outing on the glass pushed the Patriots to a 63-52 road win over Western New Mexico on Saturday afternoon.
 
Wyche scored 13 of the first 15 UT Tyler points less than seven minutes into the game to lead the Patriots to a quick 15-2 advantage, and then capped off his 28-point performance with eight free throws in the second half to secure the road win. The Patriots used the fast start and a strong rebounding effort with a 44-to-25 rebounding margin to snap their two-game losing streak and move to 11-4 on the year.
 
Junior Milan Szabo hauled in a season-high 13 of those rebounds to help UT Tyler control the pace in the second half against a Western New Mexico squad that entered the afternoon with a 9-4 record on the year. UT Tyler never relinquished the lead after the fast start, and didn't allow the Mustangs to draw the deficit to a one-possession ball game at any point in the second half.
 
Wyche bettered his season-high effort 21 points on Tuesday evening against Texas A&M-Commerce with a new season-best 28 points on Saturday afternoon, finishing the evening 7-of-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range. The Anchorage, Alaska native also finished the contest a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.
 
The Patriots shot 37.5 percent (18-of-48) from the field and 7-of-20 (35.0 percent) from beyond the three-point line, but limited Western New Mexico to just 31.6 percent (18-of-57) from the field.  
 
Western New Mexico made it a 30-23 ballgame at the halftime break after trailing by as many as 15 in the first 20 minutes of action. Graduate student Micah Fuller got the lead back to double-digits with a three-pointer at the 13:20 mark to move the score to 43-32 in favor of the Patriots.
 
The Mustangs hung around from that point as both teams struggled on the offensive end of the floor, and drew the differential to just five at 46-41 with 5:32 left on the clock. Wyche and the Patriots ended the brief switch in momentum at that point, drawing the advantage back to 10 with 2:42 remaining in the game.
 
That lead never wavered from that point forward as UT Tyler capped off their longest road trip of the year with the 63-52 victory. The win moves the Patriots conference record back to .500 at 3-3, and will set up the team for a golden opportunity for some signature wins this week with three games scheduled inside the Herrington Patriot Center.
 
Wyche was the lone Patriot in double figures, while freshman Kyle Frelow added eight points on a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the field. Szabo chipped in five points to his 13 rebounds, while Fuller ended his evening with seven points.
 
UT Tyler will kick-off their three-game homestand on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against DBU in a rescheduled contest from back on Dec. 31^st. The Patriots will then welcome Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville to their home floor on Thursday and Saturday.