TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler men's basketball took down St. Edward's 75-72 on Thursday thanks in large part to key defensive plays and a monster night from Mareng Gatkuoth.
 
Gatkuoth scored 29 points on the night while burying seven three pointers and adding four assists and three rebounds to help the Patriots to their fourth LSC win.
 
The Patriots shot 44% from the field and 36% from beyond the arc and St. Edward's shot 44% from the field and 30% from deep in a nearly identical game for both sides.
 
The Patriots raced out to a 6-0 lead to begin the game that grew to 8-1 as they went 4-for-5 from the field and held the Hilltoppers to 0-for-3. Mareng Gatkuoth would drop in two early buckets, including a dunk to kick off the game.
 
That lead would end up being the largest of the game for the Patriots, as the Hilltoppers began their climb back into the contest before taking a slim 9-8 lead. The two teams would tie themselves at 11-11 and 13-13, and Gatkuoth connected on a three pointer to tie the game yet again at 16-16.
 
A St. Edward's run gave them a four point lead with 8:39 remaining, but free throws from Khalik Gardner and Sam Phipps would bring the Patriots right back to a tie. Nikolas Gustavson would connect on his first three pointer with 4:33 remaining to cut the lead to one before the Hilltoppers went back up three.
 
An 8-5 run closed out the first half as Gardner added four more points and Gatkuoth drilled another three pointer to make it a tie game at 35-35 heading into the halftime break.
 
The second half started slow for both sides, with just 10 total points being scored over the first 3:20 of action. The two teams tied it up at 40-40 in that stretch, and just minutes later it was Sam Phipps connecting on a thunderous dunk before Gatkuoth dropped in a clutch three pointer to make it 45-45 with 14:16 remaining in the contest.
 
Both sides continued to trade buckets back and forth over the next five minutes and change, as the lead never grew larger than three until the 8:34 mark, as the Hilltoppers took a four point advantage. Akok Machar cut the lead to two as he drove baseline and dropped in a big dunk, but a pair of jumpers from St. Edward's ultimately gave them a six point lead with 5:54 remaining.
 
That six point lead would be the largest of the night for St. Edward's, and it would also last just 11 seconds as Gatkuoth buried another triple to cut the lead to three. Seconds later, it was Gustavson making his second three pointer of the night after a Hilltoppers free throw to cut the lead down to just one point with 4:47 remaining.
 
Sam Phipps came through big yet again, knocking down another bucket to give the Patriots the lead with 3:51 left, but the Hilltoppers had an answer with a three pointer. However, just as he had done all night, Gatkuoth came through big with another three pointer of his own to put the Patriots in front at 68-67.

Dontrell Hewlett added in a huge floater with 1:44 remaining to put the Patriots up three, setting up a dramatic final two minutes.
 
The Patriots would force a miss from deep, but a foul on the rebound gave the Hilltoppers two shots at the line. Both would miss, but another rebound for the Hilltoppers and then a three pointer made it a tie game with 58 seconds left.
 
The Patriots rolled down the floor, and Gatkuoth would again answer the call as he buried a corner three pointer with 41 seconds left to give the Patriots a three point lead. The Hilltoppers answered with a floater at the 17 second mark, and then got a huge turnover on the inbounds pass to set up a chance at a potential game winning shot. The Patriots held their own, with Sam Phipps making the best defensive play of the night by swatting away an interior pass and allowing the Patriots to corral the steal and take the win.
 
All but two players who entered the game for the Patriots got into the scoring column, with Dontrell Hewlett becoming the second leading scorer with nine. He added a team high six assists and seven rebounds.
 
Sam Phipps added six points while also grabbing a team high 11 rebounds and team highs in both steals and blocks with three.
 
UT Tyler now looks to continue their big week as they host St. Mary's on Saturday afternoon inside the Herrington Patriot Center. That game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start.