AUSTIN, Texas (January 23, 2025) – In a wild game featuring a combined 29 made 3-pointers, it was a 3-pointer by Dario Domingos as time expired that decided the outcome as The University of Texas Permian Basin men's basketball team defeated St. Edward's University 87-86 on Thursday night.

After a driving bank shot with 7.9 seconds remaining by Gavino Ramos put St. Edward's University in front, Freddie Word worked around a Domingos' screen and then got the ball to Domingos on the right wing, and the shot was nothing but net.

The referees reviewed the play to see if Domingos got the shot off in time or if his foot was on the 3-point line, and the shot was confirmed.

It was the first made 3-pointer of the season for Domingos, who finished with nine points for the Falcons but scored seven points in the final five-plus minutes.

In addition to Domingos, UTPB was led by DJ Armstrong with 23 points on 7-for-11 shooting from three.

Maison Adeleye scored 18 points and added a game-high eight rebounds while Alex Matthews led all scorers with 15 points in the first half before finishing with 17 points.

Word scored 10 points while also dishing out five assists, including the most important assist of the game at the end.

UTPB shot 55.2 percent from the field in the second half and was 8-for-14 from three (57.1 percent) in the period while SEU shot an extremely efficient 70.8 percent from the field while going 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) from three in the second half.

For the game, UTPB finished at 54.2 percent overall, its highest field goal percentage of the season against a conference opponent, and shot 51.9 percent from three (14-27) while SEU shot 58.9 percent from the field and 57.7 percent (15-26) from long range.

UTPB trailed 14-6 five minutes in after SEU started 6-for-9 from the field and 2-for-2 from three.

The Falcons answered with 12 consecutive points on their next four possessions as Sharrod Taylor and Matthews both connected from three. Matthews then scored a layup, but after missing a chance for the old-fashioned three-point play with a miss at the free throw line, he converted a four-point play with another 3-pointer plus the foul. That made it 18-14 Falcons with 12:43 left in the first half.

A pair of 3-pointers by Armstrong helped stake the Falcons to a 33-27 lead, and then a layup by Matthews made it 35-27 with seven minutes left in the opening period as the Falcons were shooting 65 percent (13-20) from the field and 66.7 percent (6-9) from three to that point.

The effective offense continued for both teams as UTPB held on for a narrow 43-42 lead at the break.

Both teams shot at least 50 percent from the field in the first half while SEU rained in seven 3-pointers, including three by Ramos, to keep it close.

Ramos continued his proficiency from three, hitting another one to give SEU an early second-half lead (46-43), and then four more 3-pointers by the Hilltoppers, including the last one by Ramos, made it a 58-50 just over five minutes into the second half.

Ramos would finish with 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting from three for the Hilltoppers.

UTPB trailed by 11 (61-50) before a layup by Matthews stopped the 9-0 Hilltoppers' run with 13:26 left, but SEU went right back to work and scored its seventh, eighth and ninth field goals in 12 attempts to open the second half, the last of which was its sixth 3-pointer of the half.

Armstrong did his best to match the 3-point shooting by SEU, connecting twice from three to make it a six-point game (65-59) and an eight-point game (72-64), respectively.

A layup by Adeleye made it 72-66 with under eight minutes to go, and then he answered another Hilltoppers' three with one of his own to make it 77-69 approaching six minutes remaining.

A layup by Word made it a four-point game (79-75) in the final four minutes, but SEU answered with its 15th and final 3-pointer of the game.

Down 82-78 at the final media timeout (3 minutes left) after another three by Adeleye answered SEU's latest three, Armstrong hit again from distance to make it a one-point game (82-81) with two minutes remaining.

A man on a mission, Armstrong was not done, coming off the screen and yet again sinking the three, this time making the score 84-82, giving UTPB its first lead since the beginning of the second half, and setting up a dramatic final minute of action.

With the win, UTPB (13-5 overall, 9-3 Lone Star Conference) remains atop the LSC West Division standings at 5-2 while St. Edward's falls to 11-9 overall and 5-6 in the league after suffering its first home loss of the season (6-1). It was also UTPB's first win against the Hilltoppers since the 2021-22 season.

"It was a great win on the road," spoke UTPB Head Coach Kyle Tolin. "I thought we hung in there and made some big plays down the stretch of the game. I thought we practiced better and prepared better this week."

Next up for the Falcons are the St. Mary's University Rattlers with tip-off from San Antonio, Texas, scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday, January 25.