AUSTIN, Texas – BLAKE NIELSEN posted his first career triple-double, and the St. Edward's men's basketball team dissected the Arlington Baptist defense on its way to a 92-64 victory. 
 
St. Edward's held advantages in size and shooting, which Arlington Baptist tried to neutralize with chaos. The Patriots tried to pressure and trap the entire length of the court, which did more harm than good for Arlington Baptist. 
 
The Hilltoppers found all the pressure release valves through their press break, turning Arlington Baptist's aggressiveness against it by passing ahead of defensive rotations. St. Edward's posted a season-high 24 assists of its 35 made field goals to 16 turnovers and outscored Arlington Baptist 22-13 in points off turnovers. 
 
St. Edward's did most of its damage in the first half, where Nielsen directed a balanced attack with eight points, seven rebounds, and seven of St. Edward's 13 assists before the break. 
 
Arlington Baptist repeatedly brought two defenders to the ball, leaving St. Edward's forever one pass away from a numbers advantage. Few players diagnose advantages on the court as quickly as St. Edward's junior point forward. Whether passing beyond the initial trap or working against scrambling defenders, Nielsen carved the Patriots up with surgical precision. 
 
The quality was the only thing more impressive than the quantity of Nielsen's career-high ten assists. Each of his assists was for open layups at the basket or 3-pointers, the two most efficient shots in basketball. 
 
Nielsen found JAYDEN JOHNSTON, who was making his first start of the season, open for two early 3-pointers and one late. He also found CONOR MCMANUS and BENNETT MOHN for a 3-pointer each in the first half, grabbed an offensive rebound, hit Elkinton for a layup, and made a spectacular pass to ALEU ALEU in transition for an alley-oop. 
 
Three different Hilltoppers scored nine points in the half, getting 3-for-5 shooting from deep from both Johnston and McManus and 4-for-5 shooting from the field by Aleu. Elkinton and Nielsen combined for 15 points, and the Hilltoppers shot 20-for-37 from the field, including 9-for-19 from behind the 3-point line, to take a 52-27 lead at the break. 
 
Elkinton dominated in the second half with 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting with seven rebounds, hitting the glass for four offensive rebounds to help St. Edward's outscore Arlington Baptist 12-3 in second-chance points in the second half. Elkinton finished with a game-high 25 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 10-for-11 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. 
 
Isaiah Melvo and Ahmad Webster found a rhythm for Arlington Baptist, scoring 12 and 11 points on a combined 9-for-13 shooting. The Patriots shot 13-for-23 from the field in the second half but hit only three 3-pointers and committed 11 turnovers to four assists. 
 
Nielsen recorded three more rebounds and assists after the break to finish with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. 
 
St. Edward's improves to 9-4 with the win. The Hilltoppers will return to conference play with the new year and face Texas A&M International on the road on Jan. 4