Men's Basketball Hosts Two West Division Foes

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Angelo State • Thursday, January 23 • 7:30 p.m. 
Angelo State (11-6, 7-4)
Head Coach: Vinay Patel (177-119)
at St. Mary's (12-4, 9-1)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (24-20)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Rob Shadow

UT Permian Basin • Saturday, January 25 • 3 p.m.
UT Permian Basin (12-5, 8-3)
Head Coach: Kyle Tolin (166-136)
at St. Mary's (12-4, 9-1)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (24-20)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Dan Hawkins

 

Home Again: St. Mary's returns to Bill Greehey to face a pair of teams in the West Division of the Lone Star Conference in Angelo State on Thursday and division-leader UT Permian Basin on Saturday. The Rattlers lead the East Division and are 6-0 in January.

History with Angelo State: The Rattlers hold a slight 24-20 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 1966. StMU has won 13 of the 22 games played in San Antonio, though the Rams have won the last three and are 6-1 in the overall series since the Rattlers joined the Lone Star Conference.

Scouting the Rams: Angelo State is 11-6 overall and 7-4 in league play. Sterling Gaston-Chapman leads the team with 13.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists, while Carvell Teasett comes off the bench to add 10.6 points per night. Both Teasett and Kaden Evans average 2.3 triples per game, which is tied for eighth in the league. The Rams lead the league in scoring defense, allowing only 65.2 points per game, while they rank third in field-goal percentage defense (40.3) and second in three-point field goal percentage defense (29.0).

History with UT Permian Basin: St. Mary's owns a 16-12 edge in the series with UT Permian Basin that began in 2007 when the Falcons joined the Heartland Conference. The Rattlers have won nine of the 13 games in San Antonio, including the last three.

Scouting the Falcons: UT Permian Basin leads the West Division with a 12-5 overall record and 8-3 mark in LSC play, though the Falcons dropped both games last week in overtime at home, and they will play at St. Ed's before heading to San Antonio. The five starters for the Falcons all average double figures in scoring and account for 89.5 percent of the team's scoring, led by Alex Matthews with 16.5 points and 7.6 rebounds. Freddie Word leads with 3.4 assists, and Matthews ranks fifth in the league, shooting 82 percent at the free throw line. 

Playing Extra: St. Mary's has played three overtime games in a stretch of five in January, winning all three. The 1961-62 team played three OT's in a four-game stint, going 2-1, for the most OT's in the shortest stretch. The 2001-02 team also played four OT periods in 4 games, but three of them were in one game against Central Missouri. The Rattlers are now 44-40 in overtime contests, with a 21-17 mark on the road. 

Regionally Ranked: St. Mary's is ranked fifth in the D2CSC South Central Regional Rankings. The Rattlers are receiving 36 points, one point behind #4 Midwestern State. Colorado School of Mines, MSU Denver and DBU are the top three in the region. 

Working it Inside: For the fifth time this season, the Rattlers scored at least 50 points in the paint, totaling a season-high 62 in the 91-79 overtime win at Cameron. St. Mary's has also scored 50 in wins over Regis (Nov. 8), Sul Ross State (Dec. 7), Texas A&M International (Jan. 5) and #8 DBU (Jan. 9).

Hot Start: 
• The 6-0 start to 2025 guarantees the Rattlers its third straight winning month with only three games remaining in January. StMU finished 3-2 in both November and December. 
• The win at Oklahoma Christian established a new StMU record for consecutive road victories in Lone Star Conference play. The team has won five straight on the road, breaking the mark of four straight by the 2022-23 team.
• The duo of Damani Claxton (17.3) and Lachlan Bofinger (13.6) are looking to become the 15th tandem in StMU history to average more than 30 points in a season as the pair are averaging 30.9 per game through the first 16 games.

Doubly Honored: Senior forward Lachlan Bofinger was named the LSC Defensive Player of the Week, giving him one offensive and one defensive award this year. He averaged 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocked shots per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field. Bofinger's defensive presence helped hold CU and OC to a combined 39 percent shooting. Of his 19 rebounds in the two games, 15 were on the defensive end of the floor.

Claxton Collects: Junior guard Damani Claxton added a seventh 20-plus scoring game to his resume with a career-best 27 in the win at Cameron. Claxton was 10-of-14 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 at the FT line. Claxton leads the Rattlers with 17.3 points per game and he's reached double digits in 12 straight. He is up to second in the LSC with his 17.3 per game, trailing only the 18.1 from Ahamed Mohammed at West Texas A&M.

Party Time! Excellent!: Since turning the calendar to January, junior transfer Wayne Wiggins has stepped up his game. In the six contests, Wiggins is averaging 11.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. The Mansfield, Texas native has provided a spark off the bench, scoring in double figures in four of the six games, and grabbing a career-high eight rebounds in the win at DBU. 

Tops in the LSC: Senior forward Lachlan Bofinger leads the Lone Star Conference in both double-doubles (8) and defensive rebounds per game (6.69). He also ranks second in offensive rebounds per game (3.06), total rebounds per game (9.8), and is third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.11). 

Cleaning the Glass: The Rattlers have had at least 10 offensive rebounds 14 games this season and currently lead the Lone Star and rank 10th nationally with 14.56 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 32nd in the nation with 3.06 per game, while senior Franklin Agu ranks 10th in the league and 118th nationally with 2.44 a contest.

It's An Honor x 2: Junior guard Damani Claxton was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week after the team's wins over WNMU and SRS, while Lachlan Bofinger earned Offensive Player of the Week after the team defeated both Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas A&M International to start 2025, and Defensive honors after the team swept the Oklahoma road trip.