Box Score
SAN ANTONIO — Just like that, the Rattlers are back in contention for the title.
As the No.-1 ranked team in the Heartland Conference, the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith felt the bite of St. Mary's resurgence Thursday night after it fell from the top spot in the conference in blowout fashion, 74-60.
The Rattlers (14-6, 6-4 in conference) have picked back up after losing five road games in row, four of which were against Heartland Conference contenders, and are now sitting on a two-game winning streak. No longer are no longer in a three-way tie for the third or fourth seed in the league, the Rattlers moved into sole possession of third place and are just two games out of first place.
“We are very confident players, but you know, you can't win them all,” said
Daryell Taylor (Sr., Houston) of the Rattlers' rough road stretch, a period that the Rattlers seemed to have rebounded from. “We really didn't know what direction we were going and we had to do some self-checking. We had a team meeting and we just tried to get on the same page.”
Things were certainly clicking for the Rattlers Thursday as they shot over 50 percent from the floor. The leading scorer for the night was Taylor with 19 points, which included three 3-pointers.
Kevin Kotzur (RS-Sr., La Vernia, Texas) added 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while
Isaiah Matthews (RS-So., Texas City, Texas) and
Christian Bower (Jr., Chandler, Ariz.) chipped in 11 points apiece.
From the tipoff the Rattlers were clearly charged and amped to redeem themselves as a top contender and were able to contain the Lions to just 22 points in the first half while tallying 37 themselves with 59 percent shooting from the floor. The final frame saw continued dominance from St. Mary's as it picked up its largest lead of the night at 25 points with less than two minutes remaining in the game. As St. Mary's was able to close the chapter on the battle with UA Fort Smith for the regular season, the Rattlers aren't getting ahead of themselves with the win.
“We don't want to base everything off just this one game,” Taylor said. “Our last road game, we kind of got over that hump and we're just going to try to keep the ball rolling. Today is like another stepping stone and we have another one Saturday.”
The Rattlers' contention week continues as they face Newman University, now tied atop the league standings with UA Fort Smith at 7-2, in another showdown that will be a factor in determining who advances to the conference tournament this season.
With only a handful of games remaining, St. Mary's showing against the Lions hopes to predict a win-out for the rest of the season to ensure a spot to defend their conference crown.
St. Mary's plays the Newman Jets Saturday at 4 p.m. 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.
