Men's Basketball Kicks Off 2025 With Southern Rivals

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Texas A&M-Kingsville • Friday, January 3 • 7:30 p.m. 
Texas A&M-Kingsville (6-5, 2-3)
Head Coach: Omar Gonzalez (12-27)
at St. Mary's (6-4, 3-1)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (18-20)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Rob Shadow

Texas A&M International • Sunday, January 5 • 3 p.m.
Texas A&M International (7-7, 2-3)
Head Coach: Mac McConnell (70-98)
at St. Mary's (6-4, 3-1)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (18-20)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Rob Shadow
 

Back to LSC Play: St. Mary's concluded the non-conference season at the D2 Holiday Hoops Classic and returns its attention to Lone Star Conference action, hosting Texas A&M-Kingsville on Friday evening and Texas A&M International on Sunday afternoon. Both games will be broadcast on FloCollege with Rob Shadow calling the play-by-play.

History with Texas A&M-Kingsville: The Rattlers and Javelinas are tied at 66 games each in the series that dates back to 1928. TAMUK holds a slight edge, 11-10, in games played in Bill Greehey Arena, though the Rattlers hold a 35-27 advantage in games played on their home court. Texas A&M-Kingsville holds a 10-2 lead in the meetings since StMU joined the Lone Star Conference.

Scouting the Javelinas: Texas A&M-Kingsville is 6-5 overall and 2-3 in Lone Star Conference action and hasn't played since Dec. 18 against Eastern New Mexico. Isaiah Payne leads the team with 16.2 points per game, while Zyon Little is averaging a team-best 4.4 rebounds per game. Allen Singleton paces the squad in both assists (2.5) and steals (1.9) per contest. The two teams have not faced any common opponents this season.

History with Texas A&M International: St. Mary's owns a 25-14 lead in the series with the Dustdevils, though the Rattlers have dropped the last three games inside Bill Greehey Arena and lead 12-7 at home. The teams are knotted 4-4 since moving to the LSC and StMU is looking to snap a two-game losing skid.  

Scouting the Dustdevils: Texas A&M International is 7-7 on the season and 2-3 in Lone Star Conference play and they face St. Edward's on Friday before taking on the Rattlers on Sunday. On Dec. 22 in their last contest, the Dustdevils defeated the College of Biblical Studies 88-51. Anthony Ignowski leads the team with 11.2 points per game, while both Emaniel Roacho and Duncan Alevak are tied for the team lead with 4.3 rebounds per contest. Elijah Bailey leads with 3.14 assists and 1.29 steals per game.

Holiday Hoops Recap: The Rattlers became the first team this season to defeat Missouri S&T, handing the Miners a 65-52 setback. Damani Claxton scored a career-best 23 points with a team-high five assists, while Lachlan Bofinger posted his fourth double-double of the year with 12 points and 13 rebounds. One night later, Western Washington made a pair of free throws with 4.6 seconds left to win 70-68 over StMU. Claxton and Malcolm Steadman led the Rattlers with 13 points each, while Bofinger narrowly missed a triple-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

Going Streaking: Senior Lachlan Bofinger has scored in double figures in six straight games and has eight or more in 12-straight games, dating back to last season. The stretch of six straight with 10 or more points is the longest in his career, topping the five-game streak from a season ago. During the stretch, Bofinger is averaging 13.2 points, along with 10.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

Stead(y)man as a Rock: Malcolm Steadman has scored at least five points in each of the last five games, including a career-best 13 in the last contest against Western Washington. He is averaging 7.2 points per game during the stretch and has increased his scoring average 2.0 ppg, up to 5.2 a game. The junior college transfer also has grabbed multiple rebounds in nine of the 10 contests.

Cleaning the Glass: The Rattlers have had at least 10 offensive rebounds in every game this season and currently lead the Lone Star and rank fifth nationally with 16.70 offensive rebounds a game. That number currently ranks third on the St. Mary's single season charts, trailing 20.92 by the 1955-56 team and 19.50 by the 1994-95 squad.  Senior Lachlan Bofinger ranks second in the Lone Star and 15th in the nation with 3.60 per game, as well as second in overall rebounds (9.5), while senior Franklin Agu ranks eighth in the league and 91st nationally with 2.60 a contest.

Crashing the Boards: Six Rattlers have at least one rebound in every game they've played this season. Franklin Agu, Eddie McPhee, Josh Reid, Malcolm Steadman and Wayne Wiggins have all grabbed at least one board, while Lachlan Bofinger has multiple rebounds in each contest.

It's An Honor: Sophomore guard Damani Claxton was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week after the team's wins over WNMU and SRS. He collected nine steals in the two games (4.5 per game) – including a career-best six in the team's lopsided win over Sul Ross State. His six steals tie for the third-highest total in the Rattlers' DII-era history. He also averaged 15.0 points per game with 4.5 assists in helping the Gold and Blue stretch their win total to three straight. He swiped the six while only playing 18 minutes, adding 19 points, five assists and a rebound. 

Stop, Thief: Sophomore Damani Claxton is averaging 2.00 steals per game to rank fifth in the Lone Star statistics and 74th in the nation. Against Sul Ross State he swiped six, tying for the third-highest total in the Rattlers' DII-era history. He's had multiple thefts in five of the 10 games and his average of 2.00 per game ranks second on the school's single season charts behind the of 2.20 by Billy White from 2003-04.