Trailing by nine with 3:33 to go, UT Permian Basin Men's Basketball staged a sensational comeback to stun St. Edward's 66-65 in the team's Lone Star Conference opener.
Miles Daniels sealed the victory with a buzzer beater off an inbounds pass from
DaJuan Jones from the right corner. The Falcons finished the game on a 12-2 run for their fifth straight win after trailing for much of the game.
Daniels began the comeback with less than three minutes to go with a three-pointer. The Falcon defense stood tall forcing a turnover and followed it with a jumper by
Lemmie Howard to make it a four-point game. After a Hilltopper timeout, they stepped out of bounds for their second straight turnover. On the ensuing possession, Jones knocked down a three from the wing to trim the deficit to one.
After a missed three by the Hilltoppers, Howard converted on a wide-open layup with 32 seconds left and gave the Falcons their first lead since 11-10. On the other end, the Hilltoppers retook the lead with just 10 seconds to go. Jones drove to the basket and tried to kick the ball out, but it was tipped out of bounds with 1.8 seconds on the clock.
The Falcons called timeout setting up the Daniels buzzer beater for the win and improved the team to 9-3. The Falcons had trailed for the entire second half but kept the game within single digits. Twice in the half the Falcons had trimmed the deficit to two before a Hilltopper run.
Daniels led the Falcons with 15 points to go along with five rebounds.
Jordan Horn scored 13 points, all in the first half, and grabbed six boards. Howard finished with 13 points and seven rebounds on an efficient 5-of-7 shooting. Jones was kept in check much of the game but had six points and two assists in the closing minutes.
Kendal Frey had six points and seven rebounds while
Max Warren chipped in seven points off the bench.
Keyon Craddock was the only other Falcon to score, adding in a pair.
The Falcons return home to face Angelo State who has spent time nationally ranked this season. Fans can watch on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network and follow the team on the UTPB Athletics App.
