SAN ANTONIO – Playing a non-conference game in the regular season finale can be a challenge and the St. Mary's Men's Basketball team struggled from the floor – especially early – in an 89-76 setback to St. Edward's on Thursday night.
The Rattlers (12-12) celebrated five seniors before opening tip, honoring
Timmy Benavides (San Antonio),
Dylan Isenhower (Abilene, Texas),
Caleb Jordan (Midlothian, Texas),
Noah Laing (Boerne, Texas) and
Kobe Magee (San Antonio).
Magee led the Rattlers in scoring with 22 points and added three more triples to his career total, bringing him to 130. Junior
Ryan Leonard (Kerry, Ireland) chipped in 13 points and tied for team-high honors with three assists, along with Benavides. For the fifth-straight game, junior
Emmanuel Ewuzie (San Antonio) came off the bench to lead the team in rebounds, bringing down 10. Leonard and Ewuzie each blocked a shot.
St. Edward's (16-11) never trailed in the game and led by as many as 29 midway through the second half, but the Rattlers chipped away, cutting the deficit in half.
The Rattlers shot 43.1 percent from the field and just 33.3 from beyond the arc, while the Hilltoppers hit 55.2 percent and 50 percent from downtown.
The Rattlers have qualified for the Lone Star Conference Tournament and have clinched a first-round bye, though some seeding is still left to be determined. Stay tuned to rattlerathletics.com for tournament information after the final league games are played on Saturday.
