Men's Basketball Steals Way to Second-Straight Win

SAN ANTONIO – The St. Mary's University Men's Basketball team capitalized on miscues by UAFS to win its second-straight lopsided victory, 90-57 on Thursday night.
 
The Rattlers (7-8, 3-6 Lone Star Conference) created havoc with their defense, forcing the Lions (4-12, 2-8 Lone Star) into 23 turnovers, and they blocked four shots.
 
Senior Diego Gonzalez (Arecibo, Puerto Rico) collected a career-high seven steals, including three in a stretch of 33 seconds late in the first half.
 
Senior Davion Coleman (Houston) posted his second-straight 20-point scoring performance, leading all scorers with 23 points. He added five assists for the second-highest total in the game. Game high honors went to senior Jalon Johnson (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) with seven.
 
Edward Manuel (Lake Charles, La.) came off the bench to score 13 points, while both Franklin Agu (London, England) and Keith Dinwiddie (Los Angeles, Calif.) added 11 points each. Lachlan Bofinger (Sydney, Australia) narrowly missed another double-double, grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with his eight points.
 
The two teams went back-and-forth early with five ties and six lead changes through the first 12:16, but the Rattlers gained the lead for good on a Manuel three-pointer at 7:20, sparking a 20-to-6 run over the next six-plus minutes.
 
St. Mary's hosts Oklahoma Christian on Saturday at 3 p.m. to wrap up the four-game home stretch. The Eagles won 85-80 at St. Edward's on Thursday night.
 
NEWS & NOTES

• The 23 points by Davion Coleman marked the fifth time this season the senior has scored 20 or more in a game.
• The 15 steals by the Rattlers is the second-highest total of the season and the highest against a Lone Star Conference opponent.
• Franklin Agu scored his 100th point of the season tonight, while Keith Dinwiddie scored the 300th of his career.
• Thursday marked the 13th time in 15 games this season the Rattlers have scored over 75 in a game.
• Sophomore guard Ryan Salinas scored the first points of his career with a three-pointer late in the game. Salinas played a career-high 3:47 in the sixth game of action.
• StMU alumnus Lamb Autrey (2008-12) helped lead his Czech Republic team Usti n/Labem to a victory against the closely-ranked Kapfenberg Bulls (4-3) 99-94 in the Alpe Adria Cup on Wednesday night. He scored 18 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished five assists in 35 minutes. He and the Usti nad Labem are in a race for the league title with two games left in the regular season. Courtesy of Eurobasket LLC.