WICHITA FALLS, Texas — Freshman guard
Lawyer Jones (Waco, Texas) came off the bench to score in double figures for the second time in his young career, and junior
Josh Reid (Havelock, N.C.) was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, but the St. Mary's University Men's Basketball team struggled shooting against Midwestern State University in the Lone Star Conference opener, falling 73-50.
The date ties for the earliest conference opening game in school history, tying the 2019-20 team that opened with a 79-78 victory against then-LSC foe Texas A&M Commerce. The Rattlers (2-2, 0-1) used an eight-point scoring run early in the first quarter to build a four-point advantage, 10-6, but the Mustangs (4-1, 1-0) answered with an eight-point run of their own to grab the lead and never relinquished it.
Senior
Lachlan Bofinger (Sydney, Australia) led the game with 12 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass, and he narrowly missed his second double-double of the year, scoring eight points. Senior
Sebastian Mendoza (Riverside, Calif.) also scored eight, along with Reid, while Mendoza led the team with four assists.
The Rattlers shot a season-low 30.9 percent from the field and connected on only 26.3 (5-for-19) from the three-point line with a 25 percent (3-for-12) performance at the free throw line. MSU shot 47.5 for the game and 77.8 (7-for-9) from the charity stripe.
St. Mary's doesn't have long to rest, staying in LSC play on Saturday with a tilt against Lubbock Christian at 3 p.m. The Chaps defeated 87-72 inside the Rip Griffin Center on Thursday evening.
