December 1, 2011
San Antonio – A power play on the basketball court? The St. Mary’s Rattlers almost saw it happen Thursday night.
St. Mary’s left little to chance on the scoreboard, trouncing Dallas Christian 90-64 before 18 points from Kevin Kotzur and a dozen points from both D.J. Castro and Shavon Scott.
What was of interest, however, was whether the crowd at Bill Greehey Arena would see the rare 5-on-4.
Suiting up just six players, the Crusaders opened up that possibility when Donte Choice fouled out early in the second half. But despite seeing two other players pick up four fouls over the final few minutes, Dallas Christian (3-8) avoided allowing a basketball “power play” coming to pass.
“I’ve never seen something like that, only six players,” said Castro, a junior from El Paso, Texas. “It was interesting. We knew it would work to our advantage with them getting so tired.”
Despite being quite literally outmanned – and undersized, to boot – the Crusaders fought tough early, holding a brief lead in the opening minutes and tying the game at 27-27 with just under four minutes left in the opening half.
But that’s when the Rattlers (4-1) got going.
St. Mary’s charged toward an 18-2 run to close the half, taking a 45-29 lead into halftime.
“The guys came out a little lax,” Castro said. “I guess the fact seeing they only had six players, we assumed it would be an easy game. But we’ve got to have the right mentality.”
St. Mary’s outrebounded Dallas Christian 45-24, with Ray Marshall (Sr., El Paso, Texas) leading the way with 10. Kotzur added seven boards, while going 9 for 12 from the floor for 18 points in just 19 minutes.
“Everyone’s showing what they can do,” Castro said. “Everyone can contribute.”
The Rattlers will be back in action Saturday, when they travel to take on Angelo State at 6 p.m. in San Angelo, Texas.