ODESSA, Texas (November 26, 2024) – With UT Permian Basin men's basketball looking for a spark in the second half, Freddie Word scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the final period while Dario Domingos hit the game winning free throws with 11.4 seconds left to give the Falcons a one-point road win, 85-84, at Southeastern Oklahoma State University on the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving break.

Despite 11 points from Alex Matthews and a double-double by Domingos (10 points, 11 rebounds) at halftime, UTPB (4-1 overall) allowed Southeastern (2-3) to sink eight 3-pointers, shoot over 50 percent both from the field and from three, and score 50 points in the first half. One of those 3-pointers in the first half for SOSU was a running buzzer beater that was banked in right before the break.

UTPB was able to stay within shouting distance in the first half thanks to making each of its first 12 free throw attempts of the game and going a combined 13-for-16 from the line in the opening 20 minutes. Domingos (6-6) and Matthews (3-3) were a combined 9-for-9 from the free throw line to that point while SOSU had just two free throw attempts (2-2) in the first half. In the end, getting to the foul line would be a consistent theme for the Falcons to pull out the victory.

A 9-0 UTPB run ending with five straight points by Word early in the second half got the Falcons to within four (52-48) after a coast-to-coast layup by Word less than two and a half minutes into the period.

Word did his best to keep the Falcons in it with 10 points in the first eight and a half minutes of the second half and hit a 3-pointer to make it a 65-58 deficit with 11:46 left to play.

With 9:18 left, a pair of free throws by Word made it just a three-point game (67-64) as the free throw disparity also helped the Falcons stay in it.

Word continued to make plays and got the assist on a layup by Domingos to cut the margin to just two points (72-70) with 7:44 left.

A steal and a layup by Word made it 74-72 with 5:49 to go, and then on the next SOSU possession, a steal by Domingos led to another layup by Word to tie it at 74-74 with 5:17 on the clock. It was the first tie of the game.

SOSU answered with five straight points, but a strong layup by Domingos was followed by another steal by the Falcons, this time by Maison Adeleye, the reigning Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week.

After his steal, Adeleye got the ball back, got fouled going for the layup, and made both free throws to make it a one-point Falcons' deficit (79-78) with three and a half minutes to go.

In the final two minutes, a steal and dunk by Matthews tied the game for the second time (82-82), and then after a layup by the Savage Storm to take back the lead on their next possession, Domingos went 1-for-2 from the free throw line before pulling down his 15th rebound of the game on the other end of the court to give the Falcons a chance to take the lead in the final 30 seconds.

After Matthews came up short on a turnaround jumper in the paint, Domingos fought for the offensive board, corralled it and drew the foul.

Going to the free throw line for two shots with 11.4 seconds remaining, Domingos calmly made both shots to give the Falcons their first lead (85-84) since the 17:28 mark in the first half.

After a missed layup by the Savage Storm with 2.1 seconds left, the rebound carromed out of bounds, and the call on the floor was UTPB ball. However, after a video review, SOSU was given one final chance to win the game from the baseline.

SOSU got a clean look from point blank range as the inbounds pass from Daniel Halldorsson found Ethan Wilkerson posting up on Word, but the hook shot off the backboard rolled around and off the rim.

UTPB Head Coach Kyle Tolin summed up his thoughts on the night and said, "I thought we battled and showed some toughness. Sometimes if you just hang around and keep fighting, something good happens, and this time it did."

The Falcons shot 15-for-29 (51.7 percent) in the second half while holding the Savage Storm to a 2-for-9 mark from three (22.2 percent) in the final period, a drastic difference from the first half.

UTPB also finished the contest with 13 steals on 17 SOSU turnovers while turning the ball over just eight times itself. Adeleye led the way with four of those steals while Word added three steals and both Matthews and Domingos had a pair.

In addition to leading 21-10 in points off turnovers and 12-5 on fastbreak points, UTPB held a 16-11 advantage on the offensive glass and outscored SOSU 18-10 on second chance points. Domingos accounted for nine of those offensive boards for the Falcons.

In the second half alone, it was a 15-4 advantage on points off turnovers and a 12-3 lead on fastbreak points for the visiting team.

Behind Words' 22 points, Domingos had 21 points and 16 rebounds and Matthews added 19 points. Domingos would finish 11-for-13 from three free throw line while Matthews (5-5), Word (5-5) and Adeleye (4-4) were all prefect from the stripe.

As a team, the Falcons were 27-for-34 (79.4 percent) from the free throw line while the Savage Storm were 8-for-8.

Halldorsson would put up a career-high 27 points on 12-for-20 shooting and added nine assists and six rebounds. He was one of three Savage Storm players with three made 3-pointers.

UTPB is now off for Thanksgiving Break and will not return to action until the evening of Thursday, December 5, when the team returns to LSC action at home against Texas A&M International University.