Balanced Attack Leads to Sixth Straight Victory for Men's Hoops

EDMOND, Okla. — Six players scored nine or more as the St. Mary's University Men's Basketball team won its ninth-straight game inside Lone Star Conference play with a 78-64 victory at Oklahoma Christian on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Rattlers (12-4, 9-1) had a trio score in double digits and another three score nine, leading for all but 1:08 in the game. Junior Damani Claxton (Bronx, N.Y.) led the team with 15 points, while Lachlan Bofinger (Sydney, Australia) just missed another double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, and senior Sebastian Mendoza (Riverside, Calif.) chipped in 11 on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting night. Wayne Wiggins (Mansfield, Texas), Eman Lawal (Mississauga, Ontario) and Franklin Agu (London, England) all came off the bench to score nine, while Agu grabbed four of the team's eight offensive rebounds.
 
St. Mary's jumped out to an early 11-point lead, 18-7, with 14:04 to play, but the Eagles (6-10, 3-8) closed the gap to two points, 18-16 with 10:58 left in the first half. Leading by one, 22-21, with 8:36 on the clock, the Rattlers used a 19-5 run to extend the advantage out to 15 points, 41-26 with 1:39 left and took a 43-28 lead into the locker room. Bofinger had 10 points and seven rebounds to lead all players at the break.
 
The Eagles came out on fire in the second stanza, scoring the first 10 points to trim their deficit to five, 43-38, with 15:55 to play, and trailed by only one, 47-46, with 13:24 on the clock. The Rattlers scored 21 of the next 29 to push the lead back to 14, 68-54 at the 6:07 mark and won by the same margin. Wiggins scored all nine of his points in the second half, while Agu grabbed six of his seven boards.
 
Bofinger and Mendoza led the Rattlers with three assists each, while Bofinger led the game with three steals and two blocked shots. It is the seventh-straight game the graduate student has either led the team in assists or tied for the team lead.
 
St. Mary's returns home to host Angelo State on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and UT Permian Basin on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Rams defeated Angelo State, 65-55, while the Falcons dropped an 80-74 decision in overtime to Midwestern State.