TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler men's basketball team was unable to overcome a slow offensive start in a 58-48 loss against Lubbock Christian.
 
UT Tyler outscored Lubbock Christian 36-31 in the second half of action and cut a once 25-point deficit to just nine with a little over a minute left to go, but couldn't overcome their early struggles offensively to lose for the first time on their home court in 2022-23. The Patriots were led by Milan Szabo, who notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to pace UT Tyler in both categories.
 
The Patriots went 4-for-34 (11.8 percent) in the opening half to fall behind 27-12 after the first 20 minutes of play. Lubbock Christian never trailed throughout the entirety of the contest thanks to that difficult offensive half for the Patriots.
 
The second half proved to be a different story for UT Tyler as they shot 50 percent (13-for-26) from the field in the final 20 minutes, and used 11 second-half points from Szabo to cut the Chap lead to just 53-44 with 1:17 remaining on the clock. That nine-point deficit was the result of an 18-4 run for the Patriots over seven minutes of game action that saw UT Tyler make 7-of-8 from the field during the stretch.
 
The run came after Lubbock Christian extended their largest lead of the ballgame at the 51-26 mark with 7:32 remaining in the game. Szabo scored six points over that stretch to bring the deficit back into manageable figures, but couldn't generate enough offense in the final minute to truly threaten the Lubbock Christian advantage.
 
The Patriots finished the evening 17-for-60 (28.3 percent) from the field. Lubbock Christian on the otherhand connected at a 46.0 percent clip (23-for-50) for the night, and was able to keep the Patriots at a comfortable margin thanks to their strong opening half of play.
 
Junior Jordan Hairston joined Szabo in double figures with 10 points, and knocked down two of the three made three-pointers from the Patriots on the night.
 
UT Tyler will return to their home court on Saturday afternoon in a 3 p.m. meeting with West Texas A&M.