ODESSA, TEXAS – UT Tyler turned a once 20-point first half lead for UT Permian Basin into just a four-point advantage midway through the second half, but couldn't keep pace with a hot-shooting Falcon team that secured an 89-71 win on Thursday night.
 
Senior Micah Fuller had 24 points to lead the way for UT Tyler, his second straight 20-plus outing, but couldn't captain UT Tyler to enough offense to match a Falcon squad that went 33-for-57 (57.9 percent) from the field and knocked down 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) attempts from beyond the three-point line. UT Permian Basin began the contest on a 21-5 run and extended their advantage to as many as 20 in the first half, but allowed the Patriots back into the game in the heart of the second half.
 
Senior Zaire Mateen scored 12 points in the first 12 minutes of the second half to combine with Fuller, who had 11 over that stretch, to cut a 14-point deficit at the halftime break to just four at 63-59 with 8:52 remaining in the game. UT Permian Basin led by 20 on two different occasions in the first half, but couldn't contain Mateen and Fuller in the first 12 minutes of the second half to allow the Patriots back into the contest.
 
The Falcons responded with six straight unanswered points and then finished the contest off with an 11-1 run to extend the lead back out to it's eventual 89-71 final tally.
 
Mateen had all 14 of his points for the night in the second half of action, while classmate Da'Zhon Wyche chipped in 15 to stand as the third Patriot in double-digit scoring figures. Fuller finished his evening 7-for-13 from the field, and 4-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc.
 
UT Permian Basin posted a shooting percentage better than 50 percent in each half on Thursday night, including a 62.1 percent (18-of-29) mark in the second half. The Patriots on the other hand shot 43.6 percent (24-of-55) for the game, but simply couldn't find an answer for the Falcon's efficient work on the offensive end of the floor.
 
UT Tyler held the upper-hand in the rebounding battle behind seven-rebound efforts from both Finn Fleute and Kyle Frelow, finishing the evening with 31 total boards as a team.
 
The loss slips UT Tyler into 11^th place in the LSC standing with a conference winning percentage of .500 (7-7), and puts their overall record on the year at 16-8.
 
The Patriots will close out the 2022 regular season on Saturday afternoon with a 4 p.m. meeting against Angelo State in San Angelo, Texas.