Box Score
SAN ANTONIO — St. Mary's Men's Basketball had no problem overcoming a five-point deficit with 50 seconds left in regulation Saturday.
But the Rattlers couldn't overcome a similar deficit against Lubbock Christian in overtime, falling 73-69 before a crowd of 400 at Bill Greehey Arena.
Marvin Binney sank two free throws with 3.9 seconds left in the second half to force OT, but the Chaps stormed back out to a six-point advantage in the final minute to keep St. Mary's just out of reach.
Still, the Rattlers (16-7, 9-6 Heartland Conference) managed to make things interesting once again in OT.
Binney was back at the line and sank two more free throws, part of his game-high 23 points, to cut the deficit to 71-69 with nine seconds left. But following a quick foul on the other end, LCU's Taylor Rogers connected on both free throws with seven seconds left to put StMU away for good.
An excited crowd on hand watched St. Mary's honor three milestone St. Mary's teams, the 1964, '74 and '89 squads. The '64 team marked St. Mary's first to advance to the NAIA national tournament; the '74 squad marked the first to make the Final Four; and the '89 squad, of course, was the one that won it all.
For a while, the Rattlers seemed poised to add another mark to the annals Saturday.
Lubbock Christian led by nine with 5:40 remaining in the second half, but St. Mary's found a way to claw back — despite shooting 27 percent from the floor (14 of 51) for the game.
St. Mary's used 36 free throws on 44 attempts to hang in there, including Binney's two key makes late in regulation.
Marvin Whitt scored 12 for the Rattlers while
Kameron Pearce chipped in 10. Binney and
Ife Eke led the Rattlers with five rebounds apiece.
Despite the loss, St. Mary's is on the verge of clinching a spot in the Heartland Conference Tournament. The Rattlers are third in the league standings, but just two games behind Texas A&M International and Arkansas-Fort Smith, who lead the conference with matching 11-4 records.
St. Mary's will hit the road for two more Heartland contests next week before returning home to close out the regular season against Texas A&M International on March 1.
