The University of Texas of the Permian Basin men's basketball team rallied to take a 25-23 halftime lead Thursday night, but Arkansas-Fort Smith pulled away towards the end of the second half in handing UTPB a 66-51 loss in Fort Smith, Ark.

The Falcons (10-10, 5-6) scored the final nine points of the first half over the last 3:35 to lead by two at the break. Anthony Dees scored the last five points for UTPB, hitting a three with 51 seconds remaining and sinking a layup before time expired to grab the team's first lead since the early minutes of the game.

Arkansas-Fort Smith came back early in the second half to lead by four off of a made basket and Dijon Farr layup after he forced a steal to put the Falcons down 33-29. 

After later trailing by eight at 40-32, the Falcons were able to pull within one possession as a Xavier Martin 3-pointer cut the lead to five, a Dees second chance layup brough it back to five after a UAFS basket and Martin hit a pair of free throws followed by Dees hitting the second of two attempts from the line to trail 46-44.

Two points was as close as UTPB could get as Arkansas-Fort Smith put the game out of reach with a 12-0 scoring run to hold a 58-44 lead with 3:21 remaining.

Dees paced the UTPB offense, leading the Falcons with 13 points while collecting a game-high 14 rebounds, including six offensive boards. 

Farr led UAFS in both scoring and rebounds, getting 14 points to go with his five boards.

The Falcons return to the court this weekend, traveling to Wichita, Kan., for a 4 p.m. contest against Newman.