Sunday, December 17 • Montana State-Billings • 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT
Montana State-Billings (6-4)
Head Coach: Luke Fennelly (6-4)
vs St. Mary's (4-4)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (4-4)
Arena: Ocean Center
Monday, December 18 • Dominican • 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT
St. Mary's (4-4)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (4-4)
vs Dominican (N.Y.) (7-1)
Head Coach: Joe Clinton (501-402)
Arena: Ocean Center
Opening Tip
• St. Mary's concludes the 2023 calendar year at the Daytona Beach Shootout, where they face Montana State-Billings on Sunday and Dominican on Monday. Both games are at 5 p.m. Eastern/4 p.m. Central.
• This will be the first game against the Yellowjackets since 2007 when both teams were members of the now defunct Heartland Conference. Each team has won three games in the series and this will be the first on a neutral court.
• St. Mary's and Dominican (N.Y.) have never met on the hardwood and it's only the second meeting between the schools in any sport as StMU swept the Chargers in 2011 in volleyball.
• A season ago, the Rattlers scored over 75 a total of eight times. This season, the team has scored over 75 in the first eight games of the year.
• Five Rattlers are averaging in double figures this season, led by Davion Coleman with 15.6 per game. Keith Dinwiddie averages 11.9, while Tyler Caron is right behind him with 11.1 a contest. Both Jalon Johnson and Lachlan Bofinger average 10.8 per game.
• Senior Jalon Johnson has a 4.1:1 assist:turnover ratio this season, which ranks fifth in all of Division II and second in the Lone Star Conference.
• Senior transfer Lachlan Bofinger added his fifth double-double of the year in his first start of the season with a team-high 18 points and 13 rebounds against Cameron. Bofinger is now tied for eighth in the nation and tied for the Lone Star lead.
• The 16.25 offensive rebounds per game this season rank third in the nation and lead the Lone Star Conference. The team also leads the league and is 16th nationally in rebounds per game with 41.88.
• Nine different players have scored 10 or more points in a game this season for the Rattlers. Jalon Johnson has hit double digit points six times, while four others have done so five times.
• The Rattlers have the second-best bench scoring in the Lone Star Conference, as the team averages 31.25 points from the non-starters. Midwestern State is getting 32.4 points per game off the bench.
• St. Mary's also leads the Lone Star and ranks 10th in the nation with 19.4 free throws made per game. The Rattlers are also seventh with 27.4 attempts per game.
• Lachlan Bofinger ranks 10th nationally with 4.12 offensive rebounds per game. He is also second in the Lone Star with 8.9 total rebounds.
• Senior Tyler Caron hit two three-pointers last week, and he remains seventh in St. Mary's history with 125. He is seven shy of tying former teammate Kobe Magee (2019-22) for sixth all-time with 132 triples.
• Five Rattlers scored in double figures at Eastern New Mexico. The last time the team had five score 10 or more was Feb. 11, 2023 in an 83-67 win against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
• In the overtime loss at Midwestern State, the Rattlers collected a school record 29 offensive rebounds (Division II era), breaking the previous record of 28 against Huston-Tillotson on Dec. 1, 2009. St. Mary's out-rebounded the Mustangs 62-to-33 in the game.
• Senior Edward Manuel tied the team's season-high for steals when he swiped five at Eastern New Mexico, knotting the five Diego Gonzalez collected in the win over College of Biblical Studies. They are the only two on the current roster with five steals in a game and Gonzalez has done it twice.
• The 17 steals for the Rattlers against CBS ties for the seventh most in St. Mary's history and is the most in a game since they had 19 against Regis on Nov. 14, 2015.
• Senior transfer Davion Coleman earned the first-ever Lone Star Offensive Player of the Week honors for the Rattlers after helping lead the team to a 2-0 start. Coleman averaged 25.5 points, scoring a career-best 29 in the win over Regis.
• St. Mary's has made at least one three-pointer in 170 consecutive games, dating back to Jan. 14, 2017. The Rattlers are averaging 6.4 triples a contest and eight different players have made at least one this year.
• Several Rattlers are closing in or recently accomplished career milestones:
Lachlan Bofinger: 14 rebounds shy of 300; 16 points shy of 300
Tyler Caron: 14 assists shy of 100; 10 points shy of 850
Davion Coleman: 6 rebounds shy of 100; 36 points shy of 300
Diego Gonzalez: 12 points shy of 100
Jalon Johnson: 300th point vs Cameron (307); 9 steals shy of 50; 5 defensive rebounds shy of 100
Seny N'Diaye: 2 blocks shy of 50; 14 points shy of 100
• Head Coach Bubba Meyer did something neither his father, legendary coach Buddy Meyer, or his mentor, Jim Zeleznak was able to do in winning his first game at the helm of the Rattlers. In fact, the 2-0 start for St. Mary's was the best since the 2012-13 season when the Rattlers reached the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
• The 2023-24 season is the 90th season of men's basketball at St. Mary's. The team is 1392-934 all-time.
