Box Score
LAREDO, Texas — This was one the Rattlers won't forget anytime soon.
Marvin Binney's buzzer-beating game-winner propelled St. Mary's Men's Basketball past Texas A&M International in triple overtime Saturday, as the Rattlers prevailed 87-85 in an instant classic.
With the victory, St. Mary's (12-3, 5-2 Heartland Conference) remains in a three-way tie for second place in the Heartland standings and just a game back of league-leading TAMIU (13-4, 6-1).
Marvin Whitt led the foul-plagued Rattlers with 24 points — his fifth 20-plus-point game of the season — while
Joe Monroe and
Marvin Binney also hit double figures with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
The Rattlers were hit with a bevy of fouls, particularly in the post area, as big men
Justin Alexander,
Ryan Thomas and
Isaiah Matthews — along with slashing forward
JJ Bolton — all fouled out.
Stepping in was reserve
Ife Eke, whose season-high eight points off the bench included a game-tying free throw with no time on the clock in double OT to send it to a third OT tied at 76-76.
St. Mary's relied on its defense throughout, outrebounding the Dustdevils 38-29 and forcing 19 turnovers while committing 10. TAMIU shot 54.3 percent from the floor on 46 attempts (25-46), while St. Mary's shot 46.6 percent on 58 shots (27-58).
Bolton led the Rattlers in rebounding with 10, his third straight double-digit rebounding effort of the season.
Monroe's 15 points marked a season high, eclipsing his previous season-high of 13 set against St. Edward's on Jan. 19.
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.
