SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – UT Tyler men's basketball battled throughout the contest and took it all the way to double overtime, but St. Mary's ultimately pulled away in that second overtime to take an 87-75 win.
 
Dontrell Hewlett led the Patriots with 24 points on 9-for-20 shooting while Akok Machar chipped in 15 on 5-for-10 shooting. The Patriots shot 37% as a team in the contest and 30% from beyond the arc while making nine three pointers.
 
The Rattlers led the game off by starting on a 16-0 run over the first 5:59 of the game, but a Hewlett jumper kicked off a 21-5 run from the Patriots that was capped off by a Nikolas Gustavson three pointer to make it 21-21 with 5:06 remaining in the half. Machar would continue the run himself, adding a layup and a three pointer to make it 26-21 before late buckets made it 26-25 at the end of the first half.
 
The second half began with neither side holding a lead larger than five points over the first six minutes of play, but a three pointer from the Rattlers put them up seven at the 13:43 mark of the half. The Patriots refused to fade, getting a pair of layups from Hewlett and another from Hudson Anderson as they cut the lead down to three. That lead would drop down to just two with 8:48 remaining as Machar buried another triple.
 
Hewlett would make a three pointer of his own at the 8:05 mark to cut the lead to two, and then Jadin Penigar dropped in his own three pointer just over a minute later for the Patriots to take a one point lead. That lead would grow out to five points by the 2:44 mark of the half as Penigar knocked down another three pointer.
 
The Rattlers drug themselves back in, scoring six unanswered points to take the lead by one with 50 seconds left. Hewlett would get the ball on the drive with the chance to take the lead, and he converted with a tough layup with 36 seconds left.
 
The Rattlers responded with a huge three pointer with just 12 seconds left on the clock, but again the Patriots put their faith in Hewlett, and he delivered. Hewlett drove the lane but got fouled, and he connected on the pressure packed free throws to tie the contest and force overtime. Those free throws would be his 17^th and 18^th points of the second half as he led the Patriots offensive efforts.
 
In the first overtime period the Patriots got out to a roaring start, as Mareng Gatkuoth scored a quick five points and Hewlett dropped in a layup to make it a five point lead with 1:31 remaining. Yet again however, the Rattlers battled their way back, culminating in a double-clutch rainbow three pointer with 10 seconds remaining that tied the contest and forced a second overtime.
 
In the second overtime, the Rattlers would take the upper hand, opening up a seven point lead with 1:53 remaining to put the Patriots nearly out of reach. Hewlett would make one final layup to make it a five point game with 1:41 left, but the Rattlers would convert from the free throw line to hold off any comeback efforts.
 
Gatkuoth would lead the Patriots with nine rebounds on the day, while Mate Kapanadze totaled seven assists.
 
The Patriots are back in action Saturday afternoon as they take on St. Edward's. The Patriots will look for the season sweep of the Hilltoppers in that contest that begins at 3 p.m.