Total Team Effort Lifts Men's Hoops to Seventh-Straight Win

LAREDO, Texas – The St. Mary's Men's Basketball team had a slow start, but answered in a big way, winning its seventh-straight game with a 58-51 win at Texas A&M International on Thursday night.
 
The Rattlers (10-7, 7-1 Lone Star Conference) trailed 11-2 with 13:25 remaining in the first half, but exploded for a 17-point scoring run, tying for the team's longest of the year to take the 19-11 lead and they never trailed again. The Dust Devils (11-6, 3-4 LSC) cut a 15-point second half lead by StMU down to four with 1:13 left (53-49), but were able to get no closer.
 
Senior Mamady Djikine (Paris, France) led the Rattlers with a double-double – the team's third in five games – with 17 points and 10 rebounds as he was the only Rattler in double digits in either category. Junior Ryan Leonard (Kerry, Ireland) scored nine, while Josh Brewer (Indianapolis, Ind.), Caleb Jordan (Midlothian, Texas) and Jaron Presley (Katy, Texas) each added eight. Leonard also led the game with five assists, he and Emmanuel Ewuzie (San Antonio) each had two blocked shots and Presley tallied a team-best two steals. All eight players who played 10 or more minutes scored at least three and grabbed two or more boards.
 
The seven-game winning streak is the longest since the 2014-15 team won the same amount and the victory avenges an earlier 78-67 loss to the Dust Devils at Bill Greehey Arena.
 
The 58 points by the Rattlers are the lowest offensive output of the season as the team scored 59 in a four-point win at Midwestern State on Jan. 8. In Laredo, both teams shot under 40 percent for the game with the Rattlers at 38.2 and the Devils shooting 32.1 percent. It is also the first time all year the squad made less than four triples as they were 3-for-18 from beyond the arc.
 
St. Mary's now heads to Texas A&M Kingsville on Feb. 5. Tip-off will be at either 4 p.m. or approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game.
 
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER & TEAM NOTES

• The last time the Rattlers started with a 7-1 record in conference play was in 2004-05 when the squad finished 11-1 and won the Heartland Conference Title in Buddy Meyer's last season as head coach. That squad won the first seven against league foes before dropping game eight at Drury.
• Mamady Djikine recorded his second double-double of the year and the team's third in the last five games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Djikine has now scored nine or more points in the last 10 games.
• Djikine also scored the 350th point of his St. Mary's career during the game and now has 356.
• All eight players who saw action in at least 10 minutes scored at least three points and grabbed two rebounds in the total team victory.
• St. Mary's held TAMIU to just two second chance points on seven offensive rebounds as they held the lead for 29:23 of the game.