TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler dominated the boards and made their free throws late to come out on the winning side of a 66-63 defensive battle with Oklahoma Christian.
 
The Patriots out-rebounded the Eagles by a 46-to-23 final margin, and survived a frantic final few minutes of basketball to escape with the win. Redshirt freshman Hasaan Herrington and junior Jordan Hairston combined to go 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final minute of play, while Oklahoma Christian missed a pair of costly attempts from the charity stripes in the final minute to conclude what was a defensive slugfest in the second half.
 
Neither team conceded more than 10 made attempts from the field in the final 20 minutes of action as both defenses stood strong. Oklahoma Christian went just 9-for-25 (36.0 percent) from the field in the second half and UT Tyler just 7-for-23 (30.4 percent).
 
The difference proved to be the clutch free-throw shooting in the final minute from Herrington and Hairston, combined with the 8-0 differential in second-chance points in favor of UT Tyler between the two teams in the second half.
 
Redshirt senior Rashun Williams finished with 17 points to lead the Patriots, while sophomore Kyle Frelow corralled a career-high 11 rebounds to lead the dominant rebounding effort for UT Tyler.
 
Ironically it was the three-point shooting of the Patriots that provided a two-point cushion at the halftime break as UT Tyler connected on 6-of-14 attempts from beyond the three-point arc to head into the lockerroom with a 34-32 advantage. Oklahoma Christian led for the majority of the first half until a trio of key three-point makes for the Patriots in the final four minutes flipped the script and put UT Tyler ahead.
 
UT Tyler extended that lead to eight at 42-34 with 13:12 remaining, but couldn't find the offense to pull away as Oklahoma Christian rattled off eight unanswered points to tie the game up at 42-42. The Patriots held a lead for the next seven minutes of game action before a second run for the Eagles tied the game up once again at 57-57 with 2:20 left.
 
Redshirt freshman DJ Jones connected on what would end up being a crucial shot on a three-point make with 1:56 left. That bucket gave UT Tyler a three-point cushion before three straight points from Oklahoma Christian's Drew Tennial tied the game at 60 with 1:00 on the clock.
 
Williams battled his way inside and made it 62-60 with 37 seconds left. Oklahoma Christian had their first chance to tie the game at the free throw line a few seconds later, but went just 1-for-2 at the line.
 
Herrington corralled the defensive rebound on the missed free throw with 18 seconds left, and then sunk both ensuing attempts from the charity stripe to make it 64-61.
 
A foul called on an Eagle three-point attempt with four seconds remaining of gametime sent Tennial back to the line with another opportunity to tie the game, but once again couldn't manage to do so as he went 2-for-3 and kept the Patriots ahead 64-63.
 
UT Tyler successfully in-bounded the ball to Hairston, who put the game away with a pair of free throw makes.
 
Junior Barnell Davis added nine points to the effort while Hairston and Jones both finished with eight points. UT Tyler finished the win 19-for-51 (37.3 percent) from the field, but limited Oklahoma Christian to just 39.2 percent (20-for-51) for the night.
 
The win puts the Patriots back at .500 for the season at 9-9, and 5-9 in Lone Star Conference play.
 
UT Tyler will welcome DBU to the Herrington Patriot Center on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.