FRISCO, Texas – St. Edward's men's basketball led most of its Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinal against top-seeded Dallas Baptist University, but faded late in a 78-71 loss to the Patriots. 
 
Six Hilltoppers scored in double figures, but St. Edward's committed 12 turnovers in the second half, surrendering a 19-4 advantage in points off turnovers after the break. 
 
St. Edward's and Dallas Baptist opened the game with the requisite intensity. The Lone Star Conference rivals went at each other at full tilt, bodies crashing, arms swarming, and shots flying frenetically.
 
The intensity was palpable, waiting for the first team to sync into its rhythm and channel it through productive means.
 
St. Edward's got the ball where it wanted on the floor early, getting to point blank spots at the rim; its process sound. However, physicality without patience stresses the muscle memory, creating misses on shots practiced and produced countless times before. For Dallas Baptist, the stress showed itself in 3-pointers veering off like a scratch golfer slicing a drive.
 
Dallas Baptist was the first to blink, pulling four of its starting five a few minutes in. St. Edward's found its first foothold where chaos creates the most opportunity, by turning defense into offense.
 
MASON COURTNEY and GAVINO RAMOS got St. Edward's going with coast-to-coast layups. On the other end, St. Edward's organized its movements. The Hilltoppers made certain areas of the court volatile to venture, springing sudden traps even Indiana Jones would appreciate. Behind them, the Hilltopper bench orchestrated every rotation, shouting "shooter," or "driver," on every pass to allow complete sprint closeouts to assess each threat on the fly properly.
 
When DBU brought in its starting lineup, it doubled down on physicality, and all-conference guard Ricky Lujan got on track by pushing into transition and finding ways to pressure the rim, scoring 12 points in the first half on 11 shots.
 
Forward JAMISON KAY was the initial calming force for St. Edward's. He served as the pressure release against the Patriot press, and his ball handling and decision-making at the big forward spot allowed the Hilltoppers to attack the pressure at its weakest points.
 
Eventually, Kay's intangible contributions became tangible. Kay advanced the ball past the initial line of pressure, then circled back to make himself available for quick dump-off passes against the scrambling defense he had broken, scoring eight points in the first half on 4-for-5 shooting with seven rebounds.
 
St. Edward's gradually found more signs of patience. Freshman WONDER KAHOZI caught the ball on the short roll in space and rushed, resulting in a travel. Shortly after, in the same situation, he slowed down just a bit to allow the backline defender to approach him, opening up the dump-off pass for a layup. 
 
Another freshman big, SAM MCKINNEY, met the moment with a big 3-pointer, then a dunk. McKinney joined Kay with eight first-half points, helping St. Edward's to a 35-28 halftime lead.
 
Dallas Baptist tripled down on its physicality in the second half, opening with a 5-0 run to get back in the game. The Patriots bumped and bodied St. Edward's up and down the court, making even the Hilltoppers off the ball work for every inch of the court.
 
They moved key defensive players onto Kay, removing one pressure release. When the Hilltoppers got the ball into the halfcourt and ball screen actions, DBU ran through the screener, blowing up the play. 
 
Midway through the second half, Dallas Baptist reeled off a 10-0 run, scoring all 10 in the paint to turn a seven-point deficit into a 51-48 lead. 
 
LATIEK BRISCOE slowed the bleeding with a pair of corner 3-pointers, and Rowe found his touch inside, making all three of his shots in the second half for seven points after the break. 
 
Lujan scored 14 second-half points, and Cameron Kahn added eight. The Patriots took 39 shots compared to 26 for St. Edward's. An exhausted St. Edward's team mustered several opportunities to close the gap to a single possession game in the final two minutes, but had shots fall short or made baskets answered immediately. 
 
Kay, Rowe, and Ramos scored 11 points each and combined for nine assists. Kay added nine rebounds and three blocks. Courtney, McManus, and McKinney all had 10 points. Lujan led DBU with 26 points and five assists. 
 
St. Edward's drops to 21-12. The Hilltoppers are eliminated from the LSC Tournament but await an opportunity for a spot in the NCAA Tournament bid, which will be announced on Sunday night.