Men's Basketball Completes Season Sweep Against UAFS

FORT SMITH, Ark. — Five scored in double figures as the St. Mary's University Men's Basketball team earned the season sweep over UAFS on Saturday, winning 95-81 in the final meeting between the two in conference play.
 
Both seniors Tyler Caron (Longview, Texas) and Diego Gonzalez (Arecibo, Puerto Rico) led the way with 17 points each. Senior Keith Dinwiddie (Los Angeles) scored 16, senior Edward Manuel (Lake Charles, La.) added 14 and senior Lachlan Bofinger (Sydney, Australia) tallied another double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
Caron, Dinwiddie and Manuel each drained four three-pointers for the Rattlers (11-13, 7-11 Lone Star Conference) as the team held the lead for 29:24 of the 40 minutes. 
 
The Lions (6-20, 4-15 Lone Star) mounted a comeback in the second half, using a 12-0 run early for the 56-52 advantage with 15:16 remaining and pushed their lead to six, 61-55 with 11:46 to play, but the Rattlers responded by scoring 13 of the next 17 to take a three-point lead, 68-65 with 9:15 on the clock. StMU never trailed again and went on to win by 14, 95-81.
 
Payton Brown was a huge part of the comeback for the Lions, scoring 33 points on the night to lead all scorers. Ryan Maxwell and Roland McCoy each grabbed five rebounds.
 
StMU senior Jalon Johnson (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) dished out a game-high seven assists with only one turnover, giving him 13 games this season with five or more assists. He also has six straight games with at least one steal.
 
UAFS will depart the Lone Star for the MIAA at the conclusion of the season, making this the last of conference games between the clubs. UAFS joined the Heartland Conference in 2009 and moved to the Lone Star Conference with the Rattlers and the other members in 2019. The win for the Rattlers on Saturday pulls them within one in the all-time series, 16-15, and they won the final five meetings as conference foes.
 
The Rattlers return home for three of their final four games of the season, hosting No. 1 West Texas A&M on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Lubbock Christian on Saturday at 3 p.m. for Senior Day.