Box Score
SAN ANTONIO — A two-shot technical foul for a pre-game dunk to start off the game was next to the only deficit the Rattlers faced as they defeated the University of St. Thomas 74-54 Tuesday night.
Early in the game, the Rattlers went on a nine-point run and never looked back following the early technical.
Marvin Whitt (Jr., Birmingham, Ala.), who led the game with 13 points, knows the importance of teamwork and is excited to see the team with so many new faces start to come together.
"I want to give the credit to my teammates and my coaches," said Whitt, whose Rattlers (4-1) never trailed outside of early deficits of 2-0 and 4-2. "They gave me the ball when I was open, and everybody played good team defense. We're starting to gel together with Coach and listen to what he's saying. We're taking it all in and getting better each day."
The Rattlers shot an impressive 24 of 29 from the free-throw line and scored 19 points on second-chance balls.
With large contributions from the entire Rattler bench, which collectively scored 32 points, the Rattlers built a lead as large as 23 points late in the second half.
Marvin Binney (Jr., Toronto, Ontario) contributed 12 points while
Christian Bower (Sr., Chandler, Ariz.) and
Ryan Thomas (Jr., Riverton, Utah) chipped in 10 apiece.
Bower had nine of the Rattlers' 14 assists, with
Ife Eke (Jr., Lagos, Nigeria) and
JJ Bolton (Jr., Beaumont, Miss.) contributing two and three, respectively.
The Rattlers also dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Celts 52-16.
Justin Alexander (Jr., San Antonio) had a game-high nine boards, while Bolton had six.
Off the bench, both Alexander and
Joe Monroe (R-Jr., San Antonio) contributed two blocks. Thomas, Bower, Whitt, and
Bryce Smith (R-So., Corpus Christi, Texas) each had one steal.
"We're just focused on the defense as opposed to the offense," Whitt said of the Rattlers' defensive efforts. "We understand that if we play defense, then our offense will come and that will make the game a whole lot easier."
The Rattlers will be back in action Friday, Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m. as they take on Central Missouri in their annual Thanksgiving Classic at Bill Greehey Arena.
St. Mary's University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men's basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men's golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men's golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary's also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary's student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.rattlerathletics.com.
