Men's Basketball Wins Thriller in Season Opener

SAN ANTONIO — St. Mary's University Men's Basketball used a thriller to get Head Coach Bubba Meyer's career started off on the right foot with an 81-78 victory over Regis on Friday afternoon.
 
Coach Meyer becomes the first head coach since Mel Barborak in 1960-61 to win the first game of his StMU coaching career.
 
Senior transfer Davion Coleman (Houston) scored a game-high 29 points, almost doubling his previous career-high of 16 points against Georgia Southern on Jan. 26, 2023 when he played at Texas State.
 
Fellow senior transfer Lachlan Bofinger (Sydney, Australia) posted a double-double, leading all players with 11 rebounds and adding 13 points. It is the second double-double of his career.
 
The Rangers (0-1) took the lead late, going on a 13-point run over a 1:44 stretch for a 10-point lead, 76-66 with 3:49 remaining. Coleman went on an 8-point run of his own and Bofinger hit a putback with 2:07 on the clock to knot the score back up at 76-76. A minute later the UTSA transfer was fouled, made one free throw and 16 seconds later sank a layup to put the game away for the Gold and Blue.
 
Senior Jalon Johnson (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) also ended in double figures with 12 points and had a game-high four assists for the Rattlers.
 
Regis was led by Chase Mayo Harmon with 15 points, while Olafur Styrmisson scored 12 and Vojin Mastilovic added 11. Eddy Egun collected a team-high seven rebounds and he and Trey Bryant each had three assists.
 
The Rangers face Lubbock Christian in the first game on Saturday at 2 p.m., while the Rattlers host Colorado School of Mines in game two, scheduled for 4 p.m.