SAN ANTONIO, Texas (January 25, 2025) – In what was a matchup between the two division leaders in the Lone Star Conference, the University of Texas Permian Basin men's basketball squad turned a 17-point deficit into a four-point game in the final minute, but the valiant effort was not enough as it was the St. Mary's University Rattlers who came out on top 77-72 inside Bill Greehey Arena.

Both teams started 0-for-4 from the field with a combined seven turnovers in the first three and a half minutes, but four foul calls on the Falcons and a 4-for-4 mark at the free throw line for StMU made the early difference in the scoring.

The slow start continued for the Falcons, who began the game just 1-for-10 from the field with five turnovers and trailed by 10 points (13-3) until a floater in the paint by Bryceson Burns got the "visitor's roll" and stopped a 7-0 Rattlers' run.

The theme of the first half was the defensive pressure of the Rattlers suffocating the Falcons' offense.

It was 30-13 Rattlers until a four-point play by DJ Armstrong with under five minutes remaining in the first half, and then it was a 10-point game at halftime (35-25) as the Falcons did their best to keep it at a manageable deficit at the break.

Unfortunately, StMU scored the first seven points of the second half to go right back up by 17 points (42-25) after a 3-pointer just under 1:15 into the period.

The pace picked up from there as the teams began trading baskets, and then UTPB made another push to get it a single-digit deficit (49-40) after an and-on by Alex Matthews with 12:43 left ended a 12-5 run that saw the Falcons go 5-for-5 from the field.

StMU quickly got its lead back to 15 points (55-40) after an and-one on a tip-in and a 3-pointer, and after an and-one by Dario Domingos made it a 10-point game again (59-49), the Rattlers answered with a tip-dunk on the next possession to make it a 12-point margin (61-49) with under eight and a half minutes remaining.

With 5:38 left to play, both teams were shooting over 60 percent from the field in the second half, but a 3-pointer by Damani Claxton, the fourth 3-pointer of the period on six attempts by StMU, made it a 68-54 lead for the Rattlers.

After trailing by as many as 17 points in both halves, the Falcons put together a great effort in the final two minutes.

An offensive rebound and soft floater by Freddie Word made it 73-61 with under two minutes remaining, and then after a shooting foul on the Rattlers was followed by technical foul on the Rattlers' Head Coach, a combined four-point trip to the free throw line by Matthews and Armstrong made it an eight-point game (73-65) with 1:24 left. It was the closest the Falcons had been since the 9:35 point in the first half.

That was followed by an offensive foul near midcourt by the Rattlers and another second-chance basket by Word. Then after three straight turnovers between the two teams, UTPB was finally able to inbound it as Matthews found Maison Adeleye for a layup to make it just a four-point game (73-69). It was a 10-0 Falcons' run over the last 1:10 of clock time.

After yet another turnover by the Rattlers on a steal by Adeleye with 37 seconds left, the Falcons had a chance to cut it to a one-possession game, but their jumper was off the mark, and then after the foul game began, a tough offensive goaltending goal on UTPB with just 14 seconds left effectively ended the game.

StMU turned it over nine times in the second half, including four times in the final minute and a half to make it very interesting at the end.

UTPB shot 54.8 percent from the field in the second half, but saw StMU shoot 63.2 percent in the period and 58.1 percent for the game. It was the second game in a row the Falcons allowed their opponent to shoot 58 percent from the field.

In addition, the Falcons were just 3-for-12 (25 percent) from three while the Rattlers were 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from long range.

UTPB did hold a 13-8 advantage on the offensive glass, leading to a 16-11 edge on second chance points. Coming into the game, StMU had reached at least 10 offensive rebounds in 14 games this season and was first in the Lone Star and 10th nationally with 14.56 offensive rebounds per game.

UTPB was led in scoring by Armstrong, who put together his third-consecutive 23-point game after going 8-for-13 from the field, sinking three 3-pointers and hitting a 4-for-4 mark from the free throw line.

Matthews added 13 points while Word had nine points and a game-high eight rebounds, Burns had nine points and a game-high three steals, Domingos had eight points, and Adeleye scored four points to go along with a game-high six assists.

Saturday's matchup was also a battle of two 13-win teams coming into the day as UTPB fell to 13-6 overall and 9-4 in the Lone Star Conference while StMU, which holds a No. 5 ranking in the D2CSC South Central Region, improved to 14-4 and 11-1.

"They are a really good team," spoke UTPB Head Coach Kyle Tolin. "We battled back and showed some fight in us, which was a positive. We need to get back to work and get better."

The Falcons return home next week as they host Western New Mexico University at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 30, inside the Falcon Dome.