Box Score
SAN ANTONIO — Coming into the Battle of the Saints game against the St. Edward's Hilltoppers, the Rattlers knew that they had to play 40 minutes of good basketball to come out on top.
Leading the way to their 86-69 victory over the Hilltoppers was the Rattlers' J.J. Bolton, who said, "It was just one of those nights."
Bolton (Jr., Beaumont, Miss.) recorded the team's first double-double on the season with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
"I just had to play ball," Bolton said of his performance. "I looked to get other players open, I took the shots that were best for me, and I listened to the coaches."
The first half seemed to start slowly for the Rattlers, as the Toppers jumped out to a quick six-point lead. Once 10 minutes had ticked away, the Rattlers were warm and ready to play.
Heading to halftime, the Rattlers led 44-35, after leading by as much as 15 in the first half.
During the second half the Rattlers came out hot, expanding their lead to 19 points.
But the Toppers fought back, scoring 21 points during during a six-minute period midway through the second half to claw back into the game.
"We had a slump," Bolton said. "We thought that we had the game. We need to learn how to finish."
The Toppers were only able to chop the Rattlers' lead down to eight five different times throughout the duration of the second half.
At the four-minute mark, the Rattlers went on a 14-point run to seal the victory over their Heartland Conference rivals.
Joe Monroe (RS-Jr., San Antonio) contributed 13 points off the bench, while
Marvin Binney (Jr., Toronto, Ontario) and
Justin Alexander (Jr., San Antonio) chipped in 12 points apiece.
Marvin Whitt (Jr., Birmingham, Ala.) had six boards, followed by
Ryan Thomas (Jr., River City, Utah), Binney, and Alexander with three rebounds.
The Rattlers will be back in action Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. as they take on McMurry University at Bill Greehey Arena.
