A layup by Shawn Tarver with 10 seconds left to play gave Western the 77-76 victory on the road against a very good St. Mary’s squad in the final contest of the River City Classic. The Griffons had four players in double digits with Lavonte Douglas leading the charge with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Western improves to 5-1 on the season.
The Griffons looked to be outmatched early on as the Rattles jumped out to a 12-0 lead four minutes into the game. The Griffons settled down and began to chip away when James Harris hit their first shot of the game from long range with 14:35 to play in the half.
The Griffons used a 32-21 run cutting the St. Mary’s lead to 33-32 after a Douglas layup with 3:37 to play in the half. The rest of the half belonged to the Rattlers scoring seven of the final nine points taking the 40-34 lead into the break. The Griffons bench gave them a spark scoring 18 first half points. Deionta Mitchell led the charge off the bench with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting.
The Rattlers shot 60-percent (15-25) in the frame with Ray Marshall and Kevin Kotzur each scoring nine points. They combined to go 7-of-9 from the field.
Western never gave up in the second half getting down by as many as seven points at 59-52 after a Kotzur layup with 10:47 to play. From there Western went on a 13-4 run claiming their first lead of the game at 65-63 after a jumper by Mitchell with 4:53 left.
The Rattlers went on another run going up 73-68 with 2:11 to play but a three pointer by TJ Johnson and a jumper by Douglas tied the score at 73 with 1:17 to go. The lead changed four times down the stretch with the Griffons dropping St. Mary’s to 2-1 on the season.
Western finished shooting 52.7-percent (29-55) from the field which included 62.1-percent (18-29) in the second half. The Griffons made 6-of-14 three point field goals while dishing out 14 assists. Reed Mells led the way with five. Johnson finished with 11 points while Mitchell and Harris finished with 14 and 13 respectively.
The Rattlers finished shooting 54.5-percent (20-55) from the field but struggled from the free throw line making just 14-of-21 attempts. Kotzur finished with a double-double scoring 31 points and snaring 14 rebounds.
The Griffons open up MIAA action on Wednesday, November 30 traveling to Pittsburg, Kan. to take on the Pittsburg State Gorillas. Tip time is set for 7:30 pm from John Lance Arena.
— MWSU Sports Information —