Bailee Barber

Box Score

Nikau McCullough (20) defends against UAFS.

St. Mary's STMU 12-18

UAFS UAFS 22-10

St. Mary's STMU

12-18

Final

Mar. 04, 2017

UAFS UAFS

22-10

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
St. Mary's STMU	34	22	56
UAFS UAFS	38	35	73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 3/4/2017 10:29:00 PM | RattlerAthletics.com

2nd-half shooting woes end Rattlers' comeback hopes against UAFS

By Chad Peters | St. Mary's Athletics Communications

TULSA, Oklahoma — St. Mary's coach Jim Zeleznak sat on the podium following Saturday's season-ending loss bookended by two young men he considers "foundational" players to the program.

Sophomores Yanni Wetzell and Dimitri Peterson weren't enough on this night, falling to UAFS 73-56 in the semifinals of the Heartland Conference Championships, but the duo shares Zeleznak's confidence that the future is bright with them shouldering the load.

"Last year Coach brought in a couple of the freshmen and talked to us about being the foundation," Peterson said. "To set the tone. Now as sophomores, going into our junior year, we've got to keep working hard. Bring in a couple guys who can play now and we'll be on the right path."

Despite being hobbled in the second half, the high-energy Peterson managed a double-double off the bench with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Wetzell added 10 points and six boards. Will Ferguson and Freddie Williams also reached double digits with 14 and 10 points apiece. Robbie Benavides led the squad with six assists.

St. Mary's (12-18) trailed just 38-34 at halftime and cut the deficit to three early in the second half, but an inefficient shooting performance throughout the second half stymied their comeback hopes.

The Rattlers shot 6 of 26 (23.1 percent) in the second half after making 14 field goals in the first half. The second-half shooting woes included a 1-for-9 clip from 3-point range.

UAFS (22-10), on the other hand, shot made 13 of 26 attempts to put away the Rattlers.

"We didn't function as well as we wanted to function," Zeleznak said. "I thought we were really out of rhythm for most of the game. Then in the second half, we became a one-or-two pass team again and didn't function very well."

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