Men's Basketball Wins Third-Straight

SAN ANTONIO – Second chance points proved crucial in a St. Mary's Men's Basketball 73-63 victory over Texas-Permian Basin on Saturday afternoon.

The Rattlers (12-13, 8-11 Lone Star Conference) scored 26 points on second opportunities and held the Falcons (15-13, 8-11 Lone Star) to 10 to win their third-straight game.

Junior Kobe Magee (San Antonio) scored over 20 points for the fourth time this season, leading all scorers in the contest with 25, while sophomore Dylan Isenhower (Abilene, Texas) posted his third double-double of the year with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Sophomore Caleb Jordan (Midlothian, Texas) chipped in 16 points.

Five different Rattlers dished out multiple assists in the victory, led by Markques Houston (Houston) with four and he also led the game with three steals.
UTPB shot better from the field than the Rattlers, 48 percent to 39.7, as well as 47.1-to-33.3 percent from beyond the arc, but StMU held the 68.8-50 percent edge at the free throw line.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Falcons scored the first four points of the game before Jordan got the Rattlers on the board with a floater in the paint. After UTPB made a fastbreak layup, Magee drilled one of his five triples to close within one, 6-5. The Falcons scored five straight when Magee drained another trey and Jordan hit a floater for the 11-10 score at 13:21. The teams went back-and-forth to 16-15 when Isenhower sank a pair of free throws for the first Rattler lead of the game at 17-16. The squads traded baskets to 21-20 when freshman Emmanuel Ewuzie (San Antonio) drained two at the charity stripe for a three-point edge, 23-20. The Falcons scored the next five to regain the lead, 25-23, but freshman Jaron Presley (Katy, Texas) scored his only shot of the day for the 26-25 advantage. UTPB sank consecutive triples however Houston answered with one for the 31-29 UTPB lead with 3:43 remaining. The Falcons scored another five straight to push the lead to seven, 36-29 and Jordan sank a fastbreak bucket for the 36-31 halftime tally.

The clubs went back-and-forth for the first 90 seconds of the second frame to the 38-35 score when UTPB punched in seven straight points to lead 45-35 with 14:58 on the clock. Trailing 47-39, the Rattlers used a 10-0 run to take the lead back, 49-47 at the 10:38 mark. A triple for the Falcons gave them the advantage, but it was short lived as junior Matej Gaspert (Zagreb, Croatia) made a traditional three-point play for the 52-50 score. After a UTPB basket, the Rattlers pushed 11-straight points onto the scoreboard and it read 63-52 with 4:26 on the clock. The squads went back-and-forth to 67-58 with 1:56 left and the Rattlers made their final six free throws with one trey by the Falcons for the 73-63 final.

TEAM & INDIVIDUAL PLAYER NOTES

• Kobe Magee has scored in double digits in the last 13 contests and on Saturday he tallied over 20 points for the fourth time in the Gold & Blue.
• For the third time in 2019-20, Dylan Isenhower recorded a double-double, scoring 14 and grabbing a game-high 12 boards.
• St. Mary's had more offensive than defensive rebounds on the night with 20 offensive and 19 defensive.
• Markques Houston scored the 500^th point of his career and now has 503 in the 38^th game of his career with the Rattlers.
• For the 18^th time this year the Rattlers made eight or more three-pointers in a game, sinking eight.

UP NEXT
The Rattlers take to the road next week for games at Tarleton State on Thursday and Dallas Baptist on Saturday. Game times are scheduled for 7:30 and 4 pm., respectively. The team comes home the following week for Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 29 against St. Edward's.