Box Score
SAN ANTONIO— In a lengthy game to open Heartland Conference play on Thursday night, the St. Mary's Rattlers outlasted the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions 96-89, improving to 8-1 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.
Getting off to a slow start, the Rattlers trailed by seven early in the first half. But as the minutes ticked by, the squad found its groove and at the 11-minute mark, spurred by a steal from
Marvin Binney (Jr., Toronto, Ontario), the lead changed for the final time of the night.
In a rematch of last year's Heartland Conference Tournament championship game, the defending tournament-champion Rattlers led by as much as 14 in the first half and went to halftime up 45-36, with 19 points scored off of turnovers and 20 points scored in the paint.
It seemed difficult for either team to establish a rhythm, for there were 65 total fouls called throughout the game.
But the Rattlers took advantage of the Lions' 34 fouls by shooting 35 of 43 from the free-throw line to win their eighth in a row.
Five Rattlers scored in double digits, including
Marvin Whitt, (Jr., Birmingham, Ala.) with a game-high 23 points,
Isaiah Matthews (R-Jr., Texas City, Texas) with 16,
Justin Alexander (Jr., San Antonio) with 12, and
Joe Monroe (R-Jr., San Antonio) and Binney with 11 and 10, respectively.
Collectively, the Rattlers had 34 boards, with Monroe and Binney contributing five apiece, and Whitt and Alexander chipping in four each.
Christian Bower (Sr., Chandler, Ariz) and Binney had four assists apiece. Binney also led the game in steals with three.
"I think it's a great collective win," said Binney of the team's efforts against Fort Smith. "I think Coach (Zeleznak) got us fired up for this game; he told us it would take a team to pull this off and I think that's what we did. Everybody did their jobs which allowed us to beat Fort Smith."
Despite having almost an entirely new team, the Rattlers have worked hard to become a successful squad, as they are undefeated at home.
"As the days and practices go by, everybody is starting to buy in," Binney said of all of the new Rattler faces. "Everybody is starting to learn their job. As you bring in a lot of new faces to the program, everybody brings their own game and tries to do their own thing, but as you install the system, everyone is starting to learn their jobs and I think that's why we're progressing."
The Rattlers will face Rogers State University on Saturday at home at Bill Greehey Arena.
