SAN ANTONIO, Texas (December 17, 2025) – The UT Permian Basin men's basketball team gave up 46 points on six 3-pointers in the first half and struggled from three itself in a 78-64 loss vs. the No. 25 University of Arkansas Fort Smith in one of the final two games of the River City Holiday Classic.

UAFS improves to a perfect 10-0 on the season while UPTB falls to 4-8.

It was the first time the teams have played since UAFS left the Lone Star Conference following the 2023-24 season.

Now just two wins away from their win total last season, the Lions entered the NABC Division II Top-25 last week for the first time since 2018.

UAFS entered this week leading NCAA II in field goal percentage defense at 34.3 percent and 3-point percentage defense at 23.0 percent, but it was the Lions' offense that shined the most in this game.

UTPB scored at least one point on each of first five possessions of the game, including three times on a second chance opportunity, and led 10-5 to start after five straight points by Tash Lunday on an and-one after his defensive rebound a second chance layup after his offensive rebound.

UAFS hit a 3-pointer on three of its first four made field goals of the game while UTPB took its final lead of the game at 13-11 after another and-one by Lunday 5:15 into the contest.

However, the Lions went on a 12-2 run over the next three-plus minutes to go up by eight points (23-15). The Falcons were 1-for-5 with two turnovers during the initial run, and after a pair of jumpers by Lunday to try and stop the run, UAFS still expanded its lead to 14 points (34-20) with just over eight and a half minutes left in the first half. In all, it was a 23-7 run over six-plus minutes for the Lions to take control.

UAFS made 15 of its first 29 shots overall and five of its first nine 3-pointers en route to taking a 15-point lead (39-24) with 4:43 left in the first half before an and-one by Connor Morris and a defensive rebound and layup by TJ McKenzie on back-to-back possessions to get it back to a 10-point game (39-29) with four minutes left in the opening period.

Lunday did his best to keep it a 10-point game going into the half, sinking two free throws to make it an eight-point margin (41-33) with two minutes left and then adding a 3-pointer to make it 46-36 in the final minute. Lunday led all players in points (17) and rebounds (6) at the half while shooting 6-for-9 from the field and going 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

Contributing to the 10-point margin in the first half was UAFS' 50 percent mark (6-12) from three while the Falcons started just 1-for-7 from long range.

Coming into the week, UAFS led the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) with 11.3 made threes per game while shooting it at 41.3 percent, and the long ball certainly played dividends against the Falcons.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by the Lions made it a 16-point game (61-45) with 12:25 left to play. Two more 3-pointers for UAFS got its lead to 19 points (67-48) just under the 10-minute mark. Yet another 3-pointer by UAFS made it a 22-point game (72-50) with 7:45 remaining as the Lions made five of their first nine shots from three in the second half.

Kanaan Holder was 3-for-3 from three and led the Lions with 16 points while VJ Reeves was 5-for-6 from long range and scored 15 points. In the end, UAFS finished right at its season average with 11 made 3-pointers. The Falcons, meanwhile, were limited to just one 3-pointer in each half.

UAFS shot 47.8 percent from beyond the arc while holding the Falcons to 12.5 percent. The Lions outrebounded the Falcons 45-35 and had a 19-9 advantage in second chance points. UAFS also had a 12-2 edge in fastbreak points with 14 points off turnovers.

UAFS is also ranked fifth nationally in bench points at 44.3 points per game, and added to those numbers with a 51-9 advantage in bench points against the Falcons.

"We didn't play as well tonight," spoke UTPB Head Coach Kyle Tolin. "They were a good team. I think we got better this week, which is a good thing."

UTPB saw Lunday finish with 23 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. He finished 9-for-13 from the field. Rashad Kee added 12 points, Kyle McElroy had nine points and eight rebounds, Morris had eight points, and McKenzie had seven points.

UT Permian Basin is off until after the Christmas Break and returns to action on Friday, January 2, when it hosts Dallas Baptist University for a 4 p.m. tipoff inside the Falcon Dome.