Jordan Breaks Men's Basketball Free Throw Record, Ices UAFS Late

FORT SMITH, Ark. – Despite only trailing for a little over the minute, the St. Mary's Men's Basketball felt the pressure throughout from Arkansas-Fort Smith in a 74-66 victory.
 
Senior Caleb Jordan (Midlothian, Texas) went a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line, including four in the final minute to break the St. Mary's career record for free throws made. Jordan now has 358, bettering the record of 356 by Anthony Houston (1986-89). Jordan led the Rattlers (7-7, 4-5 Lone Star) with 19 points.
 
After missing the last game, senior Ryan Leonard (Kerry, Ireland) returned to the lineup and scored a season-best 15 points as well as tie for the game-high lead with five assists. Junior Tyler Caron (Longview, Texas) matched Leonard's assist total and chipped in 10 points. Senior Emmanuel Ewuzie (San Antonio) led the game with eight rebounds and blocked two shots.
 
For the second time in three games, the Rattlers only missed one free throw, going 12-for-13 at the charity stripe. The 92.3 percent ties for the 10th-best free throw percentage in school history (minimum 10 makes). A week ago, StMU was 13-for-14 at the charity stripe at DBU.
 
Leonard and Caron hit back-to-back triples to open the scoring in the game and the Rattlers led most of the first half, trailing only 9-8 after UAFS went on a mini 5-point run. With the teams tied at 11, junior Lovre Zaja (Zagreb, Croatia) drained a triple, Ewuzie dunked and Jordan hit a triple for an 8-0 streak and the 19-11 lead at 9:07. The Lions closed within one, 21-20 on a 9-2 run, but the Rattlers again had an answer as they closed the half on a 12-2 run which included eight points from senior Jaron Presley (Katy, Texas) for the 33-22 score. 
 
The Lions chipped away through the first part of the second half and used a 10-run from the 11:03 point to 8:29 to cut their deficit to four, 52-48. With 4:08 remaining UAFS made it a one-point game on a layup, 60-59. The Rattlers scored the next eight of the next nine points for the 68-60 lead with 1:59 to play. UAFS scored four over the next minute, but the Rattlers went 6-for-6 at the free throw line to ice the game.
 
Payton Brown led all scorers with 25 points for UAFS, while Cameron Bush scored 14 and David Ekezie added 13. 
 
The Rattlers hope to end the four-game road swing on a high note, playing at Oklahoma Christian on Saturday at approximately 3 p.m.