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Scoreboard

Wesley_Curtlon_20190126MB_vs_UAFS_12
Antonio Morano Photography
58
Winner St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX 12-17
56
Tex. A&M Int'l TAMIU 6-21
Winner
St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX
12-17
58
Final
56
Tex. A&M Int'l TAMIU
6-21
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX 24 34 58
Tex. A&M Int'l TAMIU 27 29 56

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

Men's basketball wins finale to make Heartland Tournament

By Heather Kennedy | St. Mary's Athletics Communications

LAREDO, Texas – Whoever won the showdown would get their ticket punched to the last-ever Heartland Conference Tournament and the St. Mary's men's basketball team won an exciting regular season finale at Texas A&M International on Saturday, 58-56 to earn the trip.

Junior Curtlon Wesley (Las Vegas, Nev.) was a big reason for the victory as he was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line for a season-high tying 16 points to lead the Rattlers (12-16, 4-10 Heartland). Freshman Caleb Jordan (Midlothian, Texas) added 15 points and a team-high three assists, while senior Skyler Brooks (Seguin, Texas) chipped in 10 points. Senior Dimitri Peterson (San Antonio) came off the bench to lead all players with nine rebounds.

Brent Finn led the Dust Devils (6-21, 3-11 Heartland) with 19 points, five assists and two steals, while Xabier Gomez scored 18. Tom Higgins came off the bench to grab eight boards to lead the team.

With the win, the Rattlers will face top-seeded St. Edward's in the first round of the Heartland Conference Championship. The two will square off on March 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Tulsa, Okla.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Wesley started things off with a layup before the Dust Devils scored 11 straight to take an 11-2 lead. Jordan stopped the rally with a layup at the 13:49 mark. TAMIU added another five for the 16-4 advantage when the Rattlers went on a 10-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to two, 16-14 with 6:28 to play in the first half. Peterson scored the first and last basket of the streak. After a traditional three-point play for the Devils, Jordan hit a pair of jumpers sandwiched around a TAMIU triple, the Dust Devils nailed a layup and the teams traded three-pointers to bring the score to 27-21. Jordan scored on an and-one with 2:23 left for the final points of the half and the 27-24 tally.

Senior Petar Radojicic (Ljubovija, Serbia) scored his first points of the game to open the second half, nailing a jumper and Wesley followed with another jumper to give the lead back to the Rattlers, 28-27 with 19:02 to play. The Dust Devils took the lead right back with a three-pointer, but Jordan hit a pair of free throws to tie the score at 30-30 for the first tie of the game. Wesley made a pair at the charity stripe and freshman Dylan Isenhower (Abilene, Texas) extended the lead to four with a layup at the 14:25 mark. The second tie of the game happened after TAMIU scored four straight, but Isenhower hit a jumper for the 36-34 lead. The teams traded layups and the Devils hit another for the fourth tie of the night. Isenhower made one free throw and TAMIU answered with a triple to take the two-point lead with 8:38 on the clock. Junior Matej Gaspert (Zagreb, Croatia) made one free throw and the teams exchanged layups to keep the spread at one, 43-42. A three-point play gave TAMIU a four-point lead, but Brooks made a layup at 6:22 to cut that in half. Two free throws for the Dust Devils were cancelled out when Brooks made another layup and then made a free throw. Wesley followed with a layup at the 5:15 point for the lead change, 49-48. One free throw for the Devils put the fifth tie on the scoreboard in the game, 49-49. The teams traded layups again and Wesley made three layups sandwiched around a three-pointer for TAMIU for the 57-54 lead. With 14 ticks left, TAMIU made a pair of free throws to pull within one, 57-56, but Peterson made one with nine seconds on the clock for the 58-56 final.

PERSONAL PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS
  • Curtlon Wesley tied his career-high with 16 points on a perfect shooting night. He was 7-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
  • It is the third time this season Wesley has scored in double figures.
  • Freshman Caleb Jordan has scored in double figures in 16 straight games and in 25 of the last 26.
  • Jordan snapped a streak of eight-straight games where he hit a three-pointer, going 0-for-5 against the Dust Devils.
  • Skyler Brooks scored in double figures for the 13th time this season.
TEAM HIGHLIGHTS
  • The Rattlers out-rebounded the Dust Devils 30-to-21. It is the 23rd time this year they have out-rebounded the opponent and the 14th time the margin has been +7 or more.
  • St. Mary's made a season-low one three-pointer (1-for-15). The previous low was two, done twice before.
  • The Rattlers will be making their 15th Heartland Conference Tournament appearance. They missed only the 2016 and 2018 tournaments in the league's history.
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