Men's Basketball | 12/7/2014 1:09:00 AM

HOUSTON, Texas – The St. Edward's men's basketball team nearly pulled off the upset against NCAA Division I Rice Saturday evening but fell in a heartbreaker, 54-49 at Tudor Fieldhouse in exhibition play.
 
St. Edward's started the game playing stingy defense, forcing Rice into five turnovers in the first six minutes and 1-of-8 shooting. The Hilltoppers took a 6-2 lead during that span.
 
Rice fought back, outscoring St. Edward's, 12-2 over the next six minutes to take a 14-8 lead with 8:18 remaining in the first half. The Owls would hold the lead for the rest of the period and took a 23-20 lead in to the break.
 
In the second half, neither team could make any headway offensively. Trailing 35-28, with 13:13 remaining in the contest, St. Edward's went on a 9-2 run to knot the score, 37-37, with 10:12 left. FRANKIE MGBOLU had two buckets during the span, while ETHAN GILBERT capped off the run with a three-pointer. A trey by QUINTON LILLEY also tied the score at the 7:56 mark. An 8-1 run over the next five minutes gave Rice a 48-41 lead with 3:00 minutes remaining.
 
St. Edward's would cut the lead to four points on three different occasions but could not overcome the Owls on their home floor.
 
Mgbolu led the Hilltoppers with 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting and a game-high five steals. Lilley came off of the bench to eight points and pull down 10 rebounds.
 
St. Edward's will be back in action Tuesday when they travel to Oklahoma City to take on Oklahoma Christian to open Heartland Conference play. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. They will also face Newman on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. on the road trip. Both games will be available to follow on there respective athletic websites.