COMMERCE, Texas – A balanced scoring attack helped lead the St. Mary's Men's Basketball team to their first victory of the season on Sunday afternoon. The Rattlers defeated the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions 68-61 on the heels of four starters in double-figures.
St. Mary's defense held the Lions to just 33 percent shooting on the day and a 25 percent clip from behind the arc. The Lions had shot a combined 46 percent in their previous two contests with St. Mary's.
Tyler Caron was a rebound shy of a double-double as the redshirt freshman finished with a team-high 14 points and nine rebounds.
Timmy Benavides finished with 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting and six rebounds in a season-high 36 minutes of action.
Miles McDougal recorded his third straight double-figure game with 13 points and dished out a team-high six assists.
Mamady Djikine added 12 points in the win.
St. Mary's lead for more than 18 minutes in the opening half and at the 10:22 mark, a
Dylan Isenhower jumper in the paint gave the Rattlers their first double-digit lead of the contest. The Rattlers controlled the paint, outscoring the Lions 40-30 in that category. Isenhower finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
The Rattlers managed to build their lead to as many as 12 in the first stanza, but the Lions managed to cut the St. Mary's lead to seven just before the break.
In the second half, the Rattlers led wire-to-wire as they staved off multiple A&M-Commerce threats. After seeing their lead cut to two points at the 16:02 mark, the Rattlers went on a brief 7-0 run to extend their lead to nine points.
A pair of McDougal free throws with 14 seconds to play, gave St. Mary's a 10-point lead but a Lions triple at the buzzer made it a seven-point final.
St. Mary's has the week off from Lone Star Conference action but will travel to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Saturday for an exhibition with the NCAA Division-I opponent. Tip is set for 6 p.m. and can be watched live for free on the
WAC Digital Network.
