February 23, 2009
San Antonio – Nick Morey led four Rattlers scoring in double figures with 22 points as St. Mary’s University won its fifth straight game, 76-62, over Texas A&M International University in Heartland Conference men’s basketball action Monday night at the Kinesiology Building.
Morey (Sr., Belpre, Ohio) hit on 8-of-16 shots from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line to score his game-high 22 points. He also pulled down 11 rebounds for his ninth double-double this season. The 22-point performance also marked the seventh time this season that he has scored 20 or more points in a game. Curtis Mitchell (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.) had 13 points and four assists, Jeff Campbell (Fr., Allen) scored 12 points, pulled down four rebounds and had four assists and Ronald Tata (Sr., Houston) had 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
The game started off as a runaway, with the Rattlers taking a 12-0 lead in the first 5:17 of the contest. However, TAMIU bounced back and pulled to within just two points on a Spencer Foreman jumper with 1:27 left in the half. St. Mary’s took a 29-25 lead into the locker room at the break. The Rattlers quickly put the game away at the start of the second half. A 22-6 run over the first 6:30 of the second half turned the game into a rout and TAMIU never got closer than six points the rest of the way.
As a team the Rattlers shot 53.8 percent (28-52) from the field, including 40.0 percent (6-15) from three-point range. They held the Dustdevils to just 41.0 percent (25-61) shooting, including 22.2 percent (4-18) from three-point range.
With the win the Rattlers improved to 15-10 overall and 10-4 in Heartland Conference play. They have now won five in a row and 10 of their last 13 games. TAMIU fell to 8-17, 6-8. St. Mary’s will return home on Thursday to host Newman University in a Heartland Conference women’s/men’s doubleheader starting at 8 p.m. at the Bill Greehey Arena.