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Scoreboard

Marvin Binney
Antonio Morano Photography
Marvin Binney drives to the hoop against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
55
Texas A&M-Kingsville TAMUK 3-4
60
Winner St. Mary's (TX) STMU 3-3
Texas A&M-Kingsville TAMUK
3-4
55
Final
60
St. Mary's (TX) STMU
3-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Texas A&M-Kingsville TAMUK 25 30 55
St. Mary's (TX) STMU 31 29 60

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | RattlerAthletics.com

Defense dominates, forces late stop to stymie TAMUK

By Chad Peters | St. Mary's Athletics Communications

SAN ANTONIO — The St. Mary's men's basketball program has long made its mark on the defensive end of the floor, a tried and true formula the Rattlers hope they can replicate once more this season.
 
So far, they've looked the part.
 
St. Mary's led Texas A&M-Kingsville by as many as 12 points late in the second half Tuesday, and held on to a 60-55 victory at Bill Greehey Arena after watching the Javelinas close the gap to two with 26 seconds remaining.
 
It was the Rattlers' defense sealing the deal late, as Isaiah Matthews poked away the ball from a Javelina to force a clinching turnover with seven seconds left and St. Mary's protecting a four-point lead.
 
Marvin Whitt scored 13 points, Kriston Minor added 11 off the bench and Joe Monroe scored eight to go along with a team-high 10 rebounds to help St. Mary's (3-3) improve to .500 on the season.
 
And the arrow appears to be only pointing upward for this squad.
 
St. Mary's led the entire Heartland Conference in defensive scoring last season, allowing 69.2 points per game. Yet the Rattlers have been even better this season, allowing an average of 62 points per game through six contests.
 
Relying on what they've typically always done better than the opponent — defend and rebound — the Rattlers outmuscled and out-hustled the Javelinas (3-4) to hold them to 28 percent shooting from the floor (14 of 50) and less than 20 percent from 3-point range (3 of 17).
 
But it wasn't easy.
 
After leading by as many as 12 points with 8:33 remaining, the Rattlers could only watch as Texas A&M-Kingsville stormed back to make it a two-point game with three minutes remaining.
 
Capitalizing off a Rattler turnover at the top of the key, Jamar Goodwin had an easy fastbreak layup on the other end to slice the deficit to 51-49. The Rattlers then turned up the intensity on offense, as Matthews bullied his way inside for the foul, which he turned into free throws to push the lead back to four, 53-49. Moments later, Marvin Binney sliced his way to the basket to give the Rattlers some cushion at 55-49.
 
But after seeing TAMUK's Brandon Etienne make it a 57-55 game by hitting two free throws with 26 seconds left, Whitt calmly sank two foul shots with 23.1 seconds left for a 59-55 lead — which was all the cushion the Rattlers needed defensively.
 
 
The Rattlers, who have won two straight, avenged a 76-71 road loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville earlier this season. St. Mary's led 31-25 at the half.
 
St. Mary's will return to action Saturday, when it plays Tarleton State at 7 p.m. in Stephenville, Texas.
 
 
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