SILVER CITY, N.M. — The St. Mary's University Men's Basketball team built a seven-point lead early on Saturday at Western New Mexico, but was unable to sustain the lead, dropping a hard-fought 85-76 contest.
The Rattlers (18-8, 11-7) led 12-5 at the 13:55 mark of the first half after senior
Damani Claxton (Bronx, N.Y) found
Olaverr Camacho (Barberea, Santa Rosa, Guatemala) underneath the basket for a layup, and they held the lead until Keylon Dorsey hit a triple with 7:38 on the clock to make the score 19-18, and the Rattlers never led again.
Claxton led the team with 18 points, making all 10 of his free throw attempts, while fellow senior
Wayne Wiggins (Mansfield, Texas) came off the bench to chip in 14 points and grab a game-high three steals. Camacho narrowly missed a double-double, scoring nine points and leading the game with a season-high 13 rebounds.
St. Mary's out-rebounded the Mustangs (21-5, 14-4) by five, 38-to-33, and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, which led to 16 second-chance points, but WNMU drained 14 three-pointers, and always seemed to hit one as the Rattlers were making a push.
Carson Kelly led WNMU with 28 points, hitting six shots from the arc and all six of his free throws, leading a quartet of Mustangs in double figures.
The Rattlers shot 40.6 percent from the floor and hit only 23.1 percent at the three-point line (3-for-13), making all three in the second half. The team also had a solid night at the free throw line, going 21-for-25 for 84 percent.
Headed into the final week of the regular season, the Rattlers are tied for sixth place with West Texas A&M at 11-7. The Buffs hold the tiebreaker over StMU via their double overtime win in Canyon on Jan. 10. St. Mary's has already clinched a spot in the eight-team Lone Star Championship, though seeding is still up in the air.
The Rattlers host rival St. Edward's on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and then head to Oklahoma for the makeup contest against Cameron on Saturday at 3 p.m.
