The St. Mary’s men’s basketball team hosted River City Shootout, Dec. 16-17. in the Bill Greehey Arena of St. Mary’s Alumni Athletics & Convocation Center. The Rattlers were joined by teams from Seattle Pacific University, Missouri Western State College and Pittsburg State University.

River City Shootout Schedule
Monday, Dec. 16
Missouri Western 70, Seattle Pacific 65
St. Mary’s 73, Pittsburg State 66
Tuesday, Dec. 17
Pittsburg State 70, Seattle Pacific 64
Missouri Western 73, St. Mary’s 68.

The Seattle Pacific University Hawks (5-3) are coached by Jeff Hironaka, who is in his first year as the Hawks’ head coach. Hironoka was SPU’s top assistant for the previous 11 seasons. The Hawks are members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The Missouri Western State College Griffons (7-1) are coached by Tom Smith. Smith, in his 15th season at Missouri Western is the winningest coach in MWSC history with an overall record of 304-120. Smith’s overall record is 473-304 in 28 seasons as a collegiate head coach. The Griffons are the defending Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association champions.

The Pittsburg State University Gorillas (8-1) are coached by Gene Iba. Iba has a 148-66 record in his eight seasons at Pittsburg State, including three trips to the NCAA D-II tournament. The Gorrillas also are members of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

The St. Mary’s University Rattlers (3-7) are coached by Buddy Meyer, who is in his 25th year at the Rattler’s helm. The winningest basketball coach in St. Mary’s history, Meyer has an overall record of 474-229. Meyer coached the Rattlers to the 1989 NAIA National Championship. He has also led the Rattlers to 15 conference titles and one trip to the NCAA D-II tournament.

Game Summaries:
Monday: Missouri Western 70, Seattle Pacific 65.
In the opening game of the River City Shootout the Missouri Western Griffons took a nine-point lead over Seattle Pacific at the half, 37-28, and held on for a five-point victory 701-65. Larry Taylor led Missouri Western with 24 points and Damon Bailey added 21 points and 12 rebounds. The Falcons had three players in double-digits: Yusef Aziz (17), Maurice Cato (12) and Adam Harris (10).

Monday: St. Mary’s 73, Pittsburg State 66.
In Monday’s nightcap the Rattlers turned a five-point halftime lead, 38-33, into a seven-point victory, 73-66. The Rattlers led for most of the second-half until the Gorillas came back to tie the game at 60 with 5:41 remaining. St. Mary’s and Pittsburg State traded leads and ties for the remainder of the game. The Rattlers took the lead for good, 69-66, off a Anthony Weeks three-pointer with 47 seconds remaining. Billy White closed out the game for St. Mary’s with two free throws at 0:11, a steal at 0:06 and a layup at 0:04 to push the final tally to 73-66. White was high scorer for St. Mary’s with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Antonio Falu added 14 points for the Rattlers. The Gorillas were led by Jamey Richardson with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Cedric Brooks added 11 points for Pittsburg State.

Tuesday: Pittsburg State 70, Seattle Pacific 64. The Pittsburg State Gorillas, who led at the half 31-30, capitalized on 11 of 15 free-throw shooting in the second half to hold off Seattle Pacific and win by six, 70-64. The Falcons only had seven attempts from the line in the second half, converting four. Cedric Brooks was high scorer for the Gorillas with 20 and Jamey Richardson added 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Tuesday: Missouri Western 73, St. Mary’s 68. The game was tied at 25 at the half, but both teams picked up the pace in the second half. St. Mary’s was up 47-42 with 9:47 remaining, but the Griffons ralled with a 12-3 run to take the lead and hold off the Rattlers. Larry Taylor was the Griffon’s top scorer with 14 points and Mario Davis and Matt Grove both added 13. Antonio Falu again was top-man for the Rattlers, this time with 21 points. Ben McCain scored 16 for the home team. The Griffons snared 14 offensive rebounds – ten more than St. Mary’s.

Rattler men’s basketball is broadcast by KLUP AM 930 and over the Internet via www.klup.com.

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