AUSTIN, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler men's basketball team dropped a 90-77 final to St. Edward's on Saturday afternoon in Austin.
 
The Patriots were unable to keep the Lone Star Conference's most efficient offense in check as the Hilltoppers shot 53.3 percent (32-for-60) for the game and knocked down 12 three-point efforts along the way. Senior Rashun Williams led UT Tyler with 19 points and junior Quinn Smith finished with a season-high 11 to highlight the Patriot offensive effort.
 
UT Tyler maintained a lead through the first eight minutes of the first half, but 13 unanswered points from St. Edward's established a 29-18 lead with 9:43 remaining. The Patriots cut the deficit to just six on two separate occasions prior to the halftime break, but trailed 43-33 after 20 minutes of play.
 
UT Tyler went 28-for-60 (46.7 percent) from the field for the night, and shot a season best 42.9 percent (9-for-21) from three-point range, but simply struggled to slow down the Hilltoppers in the second half.
 
St. Edward's scored 47 second-half points on a 19-for-34 (55.8 percent) effort from the field, and maintained their focus throughout two Patriot scoring runs that cut the lead to just seven.
 
The latter of those two runs for UT Tyler began at the 6:04 mark of the second half, as the Patriots scored seven unanswered points, all from the hands of Williams and Smith. That cut the lead  to just 75-68 with 4:28 remaining, but a 10-2 run by the Hilltoppers from that point extended the margin back to double-digits for the rest of the contest.
 
Four different Patriots finished with eight points, including Milan Szabo who led the rebounding effort with seven boards, four of which were on the offensive end of the floor.
 
UT Tyler falls to 9-11 on the year and 5-11 in Lone Star Conference play with the loss.
 
The Patriots will return home this weekend for Thursday and Saturday games against Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas A&M International.