San Antonio – St. Mary’s University committed 17 turnovers and shot 4.15 percent from the field, despite a strong night from Kevin Kotzur, and fell to the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, 81-65, in the regular season men’s basketball finale for both teams.

Kotzur (Fr., La Vernia, Texas) hit on 7-of-9 shots from the field to score 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. With the 7-of-9 shooting night, Kotzur is now hitting on 67.2 percent of his shots from the field, the best mark in the nation. Darren Lee (Sr., Stockton, Calif.) scored 12 points, while Brad Hubenak (Fr., Kennedale, Texas) scored 10 points.

The Rattlers led just once in the game, 2-0, on a basket by Hubenak 29 seconds into the game. From there, UAFS outscored the Rattlers 13-5 over the next five minutes to take the lead for good. The Lions led 42-29 at the half and expanded their lead to as much as 25 points in the second half with St. Mary’s hitting on just 37.9 percent (11-29) of their shots from the field in the second period.

With the loss the Rattlers fell to 15-12 this season. UAFS improved to 9-18 in its first season as a member of the Heartland Conference. Despite the loss, St. Mary’s will be the third seed in the upcoming Heartland Conference Tournament. The tournament, which will be played on March 4-6 at Bill Greehey Arena, was expanded to six teams this season. St. Mary’s will face sixth-seeded St. Edward’s University in the opening round game on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH 81, ST. MARY’S 65
2/27/10 4:30 p.m. at Stubblefield Center, Fort Smith, Ark.
ST. MARY’S (15-12)
Kevin Kotzur 7-9 6-6 20; Darren Lee 4-10 3-4 12; Brad Hubenak 3-7 4-4 10; Curtis Mitchell 3-5 0-1 8; Jeff Steinbaugh 1-2 4-4 6; Jeremy Fonteneaux 2-9 1-2 5; Jeff Campbell 2-5 0-0 4; Gordon Ward 0-2 0-0 0; John Roberts 0-0 0-0 0; Aaron Thomas 0-1 0-0 0; D.J. Castro 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 18-21 65.
ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH (9-18)
Josh Simmons 4-7 5-6 17; Aaron McHenry 4-8 3-5 14; LaDustin Williams 6-8 1-2 13; Jalynn Mitchell 4-11 2-4 10; Dean Neville 4-5 0-0 10; Chris Williams 3-6 1-2 7; Chad Jeffs 2-3 0-0 4; Michael Pharis 1-2 0-0 3; Grant Clark 1-2 0-0 3; Willie Isadore 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-53 12-19 81.
St. Mary’s………………..   29   36  –   65
Arkansas-Fort Smith………..   42   39  –   81
3-point goals–St. Mary’s 3-12 (Curtis Mitchell 2-4; Darren Lee 1-4; Jeff Steinbaugh 0-1; Jeff Campbell 0-2; Gordon Ward 0-1), Arkansas-Fort Smith 11-23 (Josh Simmons 4-7; Aaron McHenry 3-6; Dean Neville 2-2; Michael Pharis 1-2; Grant Clark 1-2; Willie Isadore 0-1; Jalynn Mitchell 0-3). Fouled out–St. Mary’s-None, Arkansas-Fort Smith-None. Rebounds–St. Mary’s 35 (Kevin Kotzur 12), Arkansas-Fort Smith 27 (Dean Neville 6; Josh Simmons 6). Assists–St. Mary’s 7 (Darren Lee 3), Arkansas-Fort Smith 17 (Jalynn Mitchell 6). Total fouls–St. Mary’s 20, Arkansas-Fort Smith 19. Technical fouls–St. Mary’s-Jeff Campbell, Arkansas-Fort Smith-Josh Simmons. A-627

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