San Antonio – Lorenzo Anthony led an inspired defensive effort as St. Mary’s University held off a strong challenge from Paul Quinn College for a 76-64 victory in non-conference men’s basketball action Friday night at Bill Greehey Arena.

Anthony (Sr., San Antonio) hit on 5-of-8 shots from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line to lead all players with 13 points. He also added seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals. Anthony was one of four Rattlers to score in double figures in the game. Marlon Smith (Fr., San Antonio) also had 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds, while Curtis Mitchell (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.) and Darren Lee (Jr., Stockton, Calif.) each had 11 points. Ronald Tata (Sr., Houston) made his first career start and was dominant on the boards with 13 rebounds and six points.

The Tigers had the early lead in the first half on a Joseph Cormadelle jumper, giving PQC a 14-12 lead with 12:43 left in the period. But the Rattlers turned on the defensive pressure and held the Tigers without a field goal for nearly eight minutes and without a point for more than six minutes. While the defense was shutting down PQC, the Rattler offense awoke, going on a 15-0 run to give St. Mary’s a 27-14 lead with 6:08 left in the period. The Rattlers took a 35-27 into the locker room at the break.

St. Mary’s came out of the locker room cold after the halftime break and Paul Quinn took advantage, going on an 8-2 run to cut the Rattler advantage to just four points at 43-39 on a Kelsey Alexander jumper with 14:09 left. It wasn’t until a 10-3 run midway through the period that the Rattlers finally pulled away, taking a 63-50 lead on a Nick Morey (Sr., Belpre, Ohio) layup with 5:35 left in the game.

With the win the Rattlers have now won two in a row and are 2-2 overall. Paul Quinn fell to 2-4 this season with the loss. St. Mary’s will return to action on Saturday when they host Sul Ross State University at 5:30 p.m. in Bill Greehey Arena.

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