San Antonio – Nick Morey and Marlon Smith combined for 32 points and 17 rebounds as St. Mary’s University won its first game of the season, 56-51, over Texas A&M University-Kingsville in men’s basketball action Wednesday night at the Steinke Center.

Morey (Sr., Belpre, Ohio) hit on 6-of-12 shots from the field to score 14 points. He picked up a double-double, pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds. Smith (Fr., San Antonio) hit on 5-of-11 shots from the field and 8-of-11 shots from the free throw line to score a game-high 18 points. He has reached double figures in two of his first three games as a Rattler.

The Javelinas started the game with a 14-3 run over the first 6:26. However the Ratters came back and outscored the Javelinas 24-12 over the next 13 minutes and took a one-point lead into the locker room on a Smith jumper with 20 seconds left. That momentum carried into the second half as the Rattlers started the period with a 7-1 run to take a commanding seven-point lead at the 16:20 mark.

After the Rattlers expanded their lead to eight points at 38-30 on a pair of Smith free throws, the Javs rallied. Flavio Milam led TAMUK back, keying an 8-0 run with a three pointer as the Javs tied the game at 38 with 12:39 left to play. Back came St. Mary’s, going on a 7-1 run to take a 48-41 lead on a Jeff Steinbaugh (Jr., Plano) jumper with 5:10 left. TAMUK cut the lead to just three points on two different occasions, but never got closer than that as the Rattlers held on for the win.

Milam (11 points) and Adam Montalvo (10 points) were the only Javelinas to score in double figures as TAMUK hit on just 38.6 percent (19-49) of their shots from the field in the game. St. Mary’s made 48.8 percent (21-43) of its shots from the field in the win.

With the win, the Rattlers are 1-2 overall this season, while TAMUK fell to 0-2. St. Mary’s will open their home schedule on Friday when they host Paul Quinn College at 7 p.m. at Bill Greehey Arena. The game will be broadcast live over the internet.

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