January 31, 2009
GOODWELL, Okla. – Nick Morey led four St. Mary’s University Rattlers scoring in double figures with 18 points, helping the Rattlers to a convincing 86-59 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Heartland Conference Men’s Basketball action Saturday afternoon. In the women’s game, 25th-ranked St. Mary’s shot 60.7 percent in the second half to crush the Aggies, 69-45.
For the men, a big first half was the difference. The teams battled back-and-forth for the first seven minutes of the game. The score stood at 14-12 with 13:03 left after Kevin Geofroy converted on a three-point play. Marlon Smith (Fr., San Antonio) and the Rattlers broke the game open with a 10-0 run that made the score 14-12. From there the Rattlers increased the lead to 20 points on a three-pointer by Darren Lee (Jr., Stockton, Calif.) with 5:33 left to play in the half. The Rattlers shot 45.7 percent (16-35) from the field, while OPSU shot just 26.9 percent (7-26).
In the second half the lead was never less than 18 points as the Rattlers cruised to the win. Nick Morey (Sr., Belpre, Ohio) scored 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the win. Smith added 15 points, Lee had 14 points and Curtis Mitchell (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.) had 12 points for the Rattlers. As a team the Rattlers hit in 29-of-59 (49.2 percent) shots of the field, including 42.1 percent (8-19) from three-point range. The Rattlers also outrebounded the Aggies 42-25.
With the win the Ratters improved to 10-9 overall and 5-3 in Heartland Conference play. The Rattlers have won five of their last seven games. OPSU fell to 4-15, 1-7. St. Mary’s will return to action on Thursday, February 5, when they travel to Dallas to face Dallas Baptist at 7 p.m.
In the women’s game, the Rattlers struggled for the second straight game in the first half before running away in the second half. In the first half the Rattlers hit on just 9-of-31 (29.0 percent) of their shots in the first half, but made a sizzling 60.7 percent (17-28) in the second half. St. Mary’s outrebounded the Aggies 33-19.
Natalie Gamez (Sr., San Antonio) led the Rattlers with 20 points, while Mallory Moeller (So., Seguin) scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. As a team the Rattlers made 44.1 percent (26-59) for the game. They held OPSU to just 35.6 percent (16-45) from the field in the game.
With the win St. Mary’s improved to 18-2 overall and 7-0 in Heartland Conference play. The Rattlers have now won seven straight games. St. Mary’s will return to action on Saturday, February 7, when they travel to Austin to face St. Edward’s University in the first game of a women’s/men’s doubleheader, starting at 2 p.m.