Men's Basketball Again Uses Late Free Throws to Stave Off Opponent

OKLAHOMA CITY – The St. Mary's Men's Basketball team once again used free throws late to control the narrative, sinking seven of its last eight over the final 2:29 to win 72-59 at Oklahoma Christian on Saturday.
 
Senior Ryan Leonard (Kerry, Ireland) capped a great weekend with a season-high 19 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists. He was a perfect 3-for-3 beyond the arc and was 8-of-9 from the field to lead all scorers.
 
Also scoring in double digits for the Rattlers (8-7, 5-5 Lone Star) were senior Caleb Jordan (Midlothian, Texas) with 14, junior Tyler Caron (Longview, Texas) with 12 and senior Emmanuel Ewuzie (San Antonio) with 10. Ewuzie also brought down a game-high eight rebounds and added three blocked shots to his season total. Junior Jalon Johnson (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) collected six assists – with only one turnover – in 22:33.
 
Antonio Gordon paced the Eagles (7-10, 3-8 Lone Star) with 15 points and five rebounds, while Karlyn Kenner collected 14 points. The pair were also a combined 13-for-13 at the free throw line.
 
The Rattlers shot over 50 percent from the field in both halves, ending the game with a 53.1 percentage (26-49) and their defense limited OC to a 35.3 percentage for the game (18-51) and just 27.3 percent from the three-point line (6-22).
 
In eerily similar fashion to Thursday evening, the Rattlers surrendered the lead in the first half for only a short time as the Eagles took a 6-5 lead off a pair of free throws, but Jordan stole the ball and hit Leonard for a three-pointer to give the Gold & Blue a lead they didn't relinquish the remainder of the period. Leonard led all players with 10 points.
 
The Rattlers stared the second half on a 10-2 run and stretched the lead out to 19 on a Leonard jumper at 13:10. The Eagles cut the lead to nine on a pair of free throws with 4:33 remaining, but the Rattlers immediately answered with the next five points for the 65-51 tally. The teams traded points through the last few minutes for the 72-59 final. StMU was 7-for-8 from the free throw line over the final 2:29 to put the game out of reach.
 
The Rattlers host Angelo State on Thursday and UT Permian Basin on Saturday after playing the last four on the road. Game time for Thursday is 7:30 or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game.