San Antonio – Jarvis Lee led a three-point shooting barrage for St. Mary’s University, who defeated Texas A&M University-Commerce, 67-63, at the St. Mary’s Thanksgiving Classic, Saturday night at Bill Greehey Arena in men’s basketball action.

Lee (Sr., Houston) hit on 5-of-9 shots from the field, including 5-of-8 from three-point range and made both of his free throws to lead the Rattlers with 17 points. As a team the Rattlers hit on a season best nine three-pointers, including five in the second half as St. Mary’s rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to pick up the win.

Coming out of the locker room Robert Owens (So., Oakwood) and Joe Dinkins (Sr., Conroe) hit back-to-back baskets to tie the score at 33-33. Lee hit a three-pointer and Dominique Richardson (Jr., San Antonio) followed with a lay-up to complete an 11-2 run, giving the Rattlers a 40-35 lead with 17:03 to play. The Lions rallied to retake the lead on a jump shot by Martel Jones with 11:56 to play. But the Rattlers responded with an 11-3 run to take a commanding nine-point lead at 55-46 with just 8:38 left.

Again the Lions came back, cutting the Rattler lead to just one on a Jones free throw with 4:39 left. But Bailey hit yet another three-pointer and the Rattlers made three of their last four free throws in the final 10 seconds to secure the win.

Jawan Bailey (Sr., San Antonio) scored 14 points and added six rebounds, while Owens nearly posted a double-double with 10 points and rebounds. As a team the Rattlers hit on 42.3 percent of their shots from the field (22-52), including 50 percent in the second half. They made 42.9 percent (9-21) of their shots from three-point range.

Lamar Searight led all scorers with 19 points, while Kevin Widemond (12 points) and Archie Beason (11 points) also reached double figures.

With the win the Rattlers improved to 3-2 on the season and won the tournament title with a 2-0 record. TAMUC dropped to 4-2 overall and tied with Paul Quinn for second place with a 1-1 mark in the tournament. Paul Quinn defeated Dillard 85-67 in the first game on Saturday. The Rattlers will return to action on Monday when they Texas A&M University-Kingsville at 7:30 p.m. at Bill Greehey Arena.

St. Mary’s Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
Cedric Brooks, Paul Quinn
Martel Jones, Texas A&M-Commerce
Archie Beason, Texas A&M-Commerce
Jawan Bailey, St. Mary’s
Jarvis Lee, St. Mary’s

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