UTPB men's basketball got off to a slow start Saturday afternoon in Dallas, falling behind by eight in the opening minutes in its 2013-14 Heartland Conference opener against Dallas Baptist, but tied the game going into halftime and out-scored the Patriots 51-37 in the second half to claim an 80-66 win.

Dallas Baptist (4-4, 1-1) hit three straight shots after missing its first attempt of the game to put the Falcons down 8-0 just two minutes into the contest.

UTPB (7-2 1-0) stayed resilient throughout the first half, getting the game back to a four point margin on a 3-pointer by Madison Turner at the 15:05 mark of the first. The Falcons got back within a possession on a Thomas Feeney fastbreak layup at 10:01 to trail 17-15.

Finding itself down by nine with just four minutes left in the first, UTPB rallied to score 10 of the last 11 points of the half on shots from four different players, erasing the deficit entirely to go into halftime tied 29-29 as Dwayne Soders beat the buzzer on a layup as time expired.

The Falcons came out with intensity in the second half, taking its first lead of the day on a jumper in the paint by Keith Martin followed by a basket from Phadarius Taylor to go ahead 33-29.

UTPB increased its advantage a few possessions later with a three-point play by Feeney when he was fouled on a made layup and a basket by Feeney from downtown to go up by eight 39-31. Madison Turner hit a layup and Taylor hit the front end of a pair of free throws to put the Falcons up by 10, and Turner capped a 16-3 start to the second half with a three at 15:47 to give UTPB a 45-32 advantage.

The Falcons stayed resilient when Dallas Baptist mounted a charge of its own in cutting the lead almost in half with six straight points to get within 45-38. Anthony Dees scored his first points of the night on a 3-pointer to run the lead back up to 10.

UTPB led by double digits for the entirety of the final 10:48 of the night and by as many as 20 points on five straight by Taylor and Soders at 3:05 of the second.

Taylor led all Falcons in scoring, leading all players with 17 points in the second half to end the day with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Four more Falcons ended in double digits, with Martin adding 14 points and eight rebounds, Soders a double-double on 12 points and 11 rebounds, Feeney contributing 11 points and Dees scoring 10 off the bench.

UTPB turned its shooting round in the second half, hitting 56.3 percent of its baskets compared to just 32.3 in the firsth half. The Falcons also hit 10-12 from the free throw line and went 5-8 behind the arc after halftime.

Remy Ndiaye led all palyers in the game with 27 points on 9-of-10 shooting for Dallas Baptist. The Patriots were held to just 34.6 percent from the field on the night and connected on just 24 percent of its 3-point attempts (6-25).

The Falcons are back on the road monday afternoon, traveling to Edmond, Oklahoma, for an afternoon contest at Oklahoma Christian.