Mustangs Gear Up for Road Series at Dallas Baptist, Tarleton.

Men's Basketball 1/15/2020 6:44:00 PM

Mustangs Gear Up for Road Series at Dallas Baptist, Tarleton.

Dallas/Stephenvile, Tex. – While the women head to Denton, the Mustang men will stay in Dallas to take on the Patriots of Dallas Baptist before both teams head to Stephenville to tangle with the Texans of Tarleton. Thursday's contest will kick off at 7 p.m. CST, before getting back to the usual Saturday schedule with a 4 p.m. start time at Tarleton.
LAST TIME OUT:
In probably the most anticipated weekend of the 2019-20 season, last weekend the Mustangs hosted long-time rival Eastern New Mexico and top ranked West Texas A&M. Against ENMU, the first half ten point deficit would be difference at the end of play as the Greyhounds had nearly double the opportunities at the foul line then the Mustangs. WNMU registered seven more threes than ENMU, while going 24-of-58 from the field, and converting on 13 of 16 free throws.

Game two of the weekend brought then fifth ranked West Texas A&M to Drag's Court. Looking for the upset, WNMU opened play taking a nearly double-digit lead over the Buffs, trailing by just nine at the break. While the Mustangs went 5-of-10 behind the arc in the first half, WT answered with eight in the second tallying 14 total for the night.

DALLAS BAPTIST PATRIOTS (13-2, 7-2 LSC)
New to the Lone Star Conference, the Patriots of DBU shouldn't be counted out and have a proven winning history. Surpassing twenty wins last season, DBU fell in the conference tournament finals to favorite St. Edward's. Their season continued with a trip to the South Central regional but would be short lived as they lost a heartbreaker to Texas A&M Commerce in the first round.

DBU went on a hot streak to start the season, rallying off nine straight wins. Success didn't come easy though, as two of those nine contest needed extra minutes. Their game against Lubbock Christian took three overtime periods to decide a winner. That same weekend they held on to an 84-82 overtime win over Angelo State to remain perfect. The same team who ended their season a year ago became the same team who snapped their winning streak, as Texas A&M Commerce took a dominant 102-78 win in Dallas for DBU's first loss of the season. DBU bounced back and tallied four more wins before Oklahoma Christian became the second team to claim victory over DBU.

Picked to finish sixth, DBU's proven success even earned them a first place vote in the preseason poll. Averaging 78.2 points a game, the Patriots are led by a trio of players who sit in double figures. Junior guard, Chandler Jacobs fuels the Patriots offense averaging 15 points per contest, shooting at an impressive 53.4 clip from the field. Alongside Jacobs, senior Conner Lidiak contributes 10.5 points per game, while also registering 27 steals and 27 assists.
TARLETON TEXANS (8-7, 4-5 LSC)
Riding a three game winning streak, the Texans of Tarleton are hitting just above .500 after capturing wins over Texas A&M International, Oklahoma Christian and UAFS in the first two weekends of play. Last year's team surpassed twenty wins, earning a spot in the conference tournament, falling to eventual champion West Texas A&M.

Reigning defensive player of the year, and preseason co-player of the year Josh Hawley returns for the Texans picking up right where he left off, averaging 16.5 points per contest. His 9.2 rebounds leads the conference, and averages about a block a game with 16 so far this season.

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