TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler men's basketball held the halftime lead, but a second half that saw St. Edward's score 57 points allowed them to pull away for an 86-64 win on Saturday afternoon.
 
Mareng Gatkuoth led the Patriots with 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting while knocking down four three pointers and grabbing five rebounds. Jadin Penigar added 11 points and Dontrell Hewlett added in 13.
 
The Hilltoppers led 8-2 to begin the contest, but an 11-5 run from the Patriots over 3:29 of gametime that saw five points from Penigar allowed the Patriots to tie the game up at 13. Just a few moments later, Mareng Gatkuoth connected on a three pointer to put the Patriots into the lead, starting a 14-11 run to close out the first half that culminated in the Patriots holding a 30-29 advantage.
 
A quick run to open the second half saw the Hilltoppers take a four point lead with 16:35 remaining, but Gatkuoth, Penigar, and Hewlett combined to retake the lead just over a minute later.
 
The Hilltoppers got rolling on offense with an 11-3 run, but Hewlett got a pair back with a big dunk at the 11:24 mark and Gatkuoth added a three pointer just 40 seconds later to cut the lead to two.
 
That would be the closest the Patriots got in the remaining 10 minutes of the contest, as the Hilltoppers caught fire from the floor, going on a 36-16 run to finish out the game that saw them make seven three pointers and 12 total shots.
 
The Patriots will now look to reset as they host Texas A&M-Kingsville on Thursday night inside the HPC as part of Blue Out Night.