UT Permian Basin men's basketball dropped its first game of the 2017-18 season Saturday night, falling behind early and were never able to recover in an 87-80 loss on the road at Dallas Baptist in Dallas, Texas.

The undefeated Patriots (3-0) got out to an early 5-0 lead and led 10-1 after the first two minutes and never trailed over the remainder of the game.

UTPB trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, but cut the lead down to four points at the break.

A basket by Josh Morris pulled UTPB within two on the first possession after halftime, but DBU scored the next seven points of the game to stretch its advantage back out to nine.

Amari Bryant scored the teams final seven points of the night, but DBU connected on enough of its free throws in the closing minutes to keep the Falcons from getting no closer than four points in the game's final minutes.

Daeshon Francis led four Falcons in double figures with 21 points on the night. Josh Morris added 17 points and nine rebounds, while James McPherson and Bryant each had 16 points. Sammy Allen added nine rebounds while Jevon Thomas paced UTPB with six assists.

Boy Van Vliet led five scorers in double figures for Dallas Baptist with 19 points.

UTPB is back home Thanksgiving weekend, playing a non-conference game next Saturday afternoon against Southwestern Christian.