PORTALES, N.M. — Scoring runs late in both halves helped lift the No. 23 St. Mary's University Men's Basketball team to a 63-54 victory over No. 19 Eastern New Mexico on Thursday night.
The Rattlers (11-3, 4-2 LSC) finished the first half on an 11-2 run, holding ENMU (12-2, 5-1 LSC) without a field goal the final 4:47. The game was tied with 8:28 to play on a
Lawyer Jones (Waco, Texas) layup, and the Gold and Blue went on to score nine of the next 11 points to build a 53-46 advantage with 4:43 on the clock. The StMU defense held the Greyhounds without a field goal over the final 2:42 for the nine-point victory.
Senior
Olaverr Camacho (Barberena, Santa Rosa, Guatemala) posted his first double-double as a Rattler with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and he blocked a season-high four shots.
Senior
Damani Claxton (Bronx, N.Y.) led the game with 16 points and tallied a team-best three assists, while junior
Justin Britt (Goose Creek, S.C.) chipped in 10 points on a perfect 5-for-5 night at the free throw line. He and
Wayne Wiggins (Mansfield, Texas) also collected four steals each to give the Rattlers a season-best 14 swipes.
Jones finished the night with nine points, two steals and two rebounds in 17 minutes of play for one of his strongest performances of the year.
The top two offensive rebounding teams in the Lone Star Conference each gathered 11, while StMU edged out ENMU in total rebounds, 38-to-36. The Rattlers' defense also forced the Hounds into a season-high 18 turnovers and kept the 15th-ranked team in steals to half their per-game total with only five. ENMU entered the night averaging 83.5 points per game with 19.38 fastbreak points per contest and was limited to 54 points with 11 on the break.
Mo Austin and Austin Abrams led the Greyhounds with 11 points each, and Jose Murillo had a team-high nine rebounds.
The 54 points by ENMU is the lowest output of the season and the fewest points since a 93-54 loss at Midwestern State on Feb. 8, 2024, almost two full years ago.
The Rattlers will face their third-straight nationally ranked opponent on Saturday as they square off with No. 20 West Texas A&M at 3 p.m. The Buffs needed overtime to get past No. 17 St. Edward's 84-82 on Thursday night.
