CANYON, Texas — The St. Mary's University Men's Basketball team couldn't overcome a three-point hot-shooting West Texas A&M team on Thursday night, falling 89-85.
The Buffs (17-9, 12-8) drained 13 three-pointers, the most by an opponent this season, and shot 52 percent from the arc to keep the Rattlers (18-7, 15-4) off-kilter all night. WT also hit its free throws late, making 20-of-28 from the charity stripe in the second half to hold on to the win.
St. Mary's was led by junior
Damani Claxton (Bronx, N.Y.) with a career-high 31 points, while senior
Franklin Agu (London, England) came off the bench to score 17, grab five rebounds and dished out three assists. Agu started the previous two games, but the return of senior forward
Lachlan Bofinger (Sydney, Australia) had Agu providing his spark off the bench. Bofinger led the game with nine rebounds and tied for team-high honors with three assists and two steals.
West Texas A&M led by 15, 72-57, with 6:10 remaining in the contest and by 13, 76-63, with 4:50 left, but the Rattlers scored 10 of the next 12 points to cut the deficit to five, 78-73 with 2:02 on the clock. StMU began to foul in the final minute and WT hit 7-of-10 at the free throw line. A Claxton fastbreak layup off a Bofinger steal with 17 seconds made it a two-point game, 87-85, but the Rattlers turned the ball over on the next possession.
Junior
Malcolm Steadman (Union City, Calif.) hit back-to-back triples to open the game, ending the game with nine points, and the Rattlers' defense forced the Buffs into outside shots, but WT sank them early, hitting six in the first half. StMU scored the final nine points of the first half, with Claxton scoring the final six – including a triple at the buzzer to knot the score at 34-34 at the break.
The first offensive rebound of the game was a putback for Bofinger to begin the second half, as the Rattlers were kept off the glass the entire first 20 minutes. The team ended with eight in the second half, matching WT's offensive rebounds for the entire game.
St. Mary's shot 56.4 percent for the game and made 7-of-14 from the three-point line, and they connected on 76.2 percent (16-for-21) from the free throw line.
The Rattlers remain on the road, taking on the high-scoring Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds on Saturday afternoon. ENMU beat St. Edward's 96-85 on Thursday evening.
