The University of Texas of the Permian Basin men's basketball team fell to 0-2 in the Heartland Conference this season, dropping a 72-63 road contest Thursday night against St. Mary's in San Antonio, Texas.

The Rattlers took a three point lead into halftime with three free throws from Mark Simmons with one second remaining in the first half to break the second tie of the half after a Fabian Sebastian layup with 10 seconds to go.

UTPB fought from behind two different times, first erasing a six point lead with a 6-0 run on a three from Tyler Reynolds, free throw by Anthony Dees and a shot by Colton Thompson to tie the game at 15-15, and the Falcons scored eight points in a row after trailing 25-17 to tie the game at 25-25 on Sebastian's layup on their final possession of the half.

The Falcons kept the game much closer in the second half, including taking their first lead with 18:11 remaining on a pair of free throws from Madison Turner. 

Dees helped UTPB to the lead again six minutes later, hitting three attempts from the line in back-to-back possessions to put the Falcons ahead 41-40.

Neither team was able to gain any distance as the score stayed within one possession over the next eight minutes until St. Mary's scored to go up by four with 4:09 left on the clock.

The Rattlers were able to build their lead to as many as nine points with 1:37 remaining before scoring the final four points of the game at the free throw line in picking up the nine point victory.

Dees led the Falcons with 11 points while Colton Thompson added 10 in just 13 minutes of action. Madison Turner led UTPB with seven rebounds.

Kevin Kotzur paced St. Mary's all-around, scoring 19 points with a career-best 19 rebounds as the Rattlers held a 48-30 rebounding advantage for the game. Moses Sundufu tallied 16 points while Christian Bower chipped in 14 on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.

UTPB continues conference action this weekend, traveling to Laredo, Texas, for a 4 p.m. road game against Texas A&M International.