SAN ANTONIO – St. Mary's University Men's Basketball is set to open its season this weekend as they travel to Golden, Colorado to take on Colorado School of Mines and Regis University as part of the Regional Crossover Tournament hosted by Mines.
This season will mark the first season in the Lone Star Conference for St. Mary's. The 18-team league is the largest in NCAA Division II.
Scouting the Rattlers
The Rattlers return 10 players from a team that went 12-17 overall last year and 4-12 in Heartland Conference action. There will be seven new faces for the Rattlers this season including five freshman and two transfers.
As a team in 2018-19, the Rattlers scored 71 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the floor.
Caleb Jordan, the 2018-19 Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year, led St. Mary's with 14.8 points per game.
St. Mary's looks to win their season-opener for the first time since the 2012-13 season when the Rattlers defeated Incarnate Word, 94-87.
The Rattlers were picked to finish 13
th in the Lone Star Conference this season.
A Look at the Opponents
Colorado School of Mines comes into the opener ranked No. 14 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll. The Orediggers finished the 2018-19 season with an overall record of 25-6 and 21-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). Mines earned their sixth consecutive NCAA Regional berth where they fell in the first round to Lubbock Christian.
Mason Baker returns this season as he led Mines in scoring with 15 points per game as the Orediggers scored 82.5 points per contest in 2018-19.
Regis University is coming off a 20-10 season and a 16-6 mark in the RMAC. The Rangers defeated St. Mary's in their season opener last season by a score of 86-85 for their third straight victory over the Rattlers.
The Rangers lost their top-scorer to graduation but return their second leading scorer in Christian Little who averaged 14.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game last season.
Follow the Action
Both games this weekend will be broadcasted through the
RMAC Network and live stats can be found
HERE
