Box Score AUSTIN, TEXAS – The St. Edward's men's basketball team dropped its annual "Battle of the Saints" matchup with St. Mary's Saturday afternoon at the Recreation and Convocation Center, falling to the Rattlers in a tight contest, 73-70.
 
The two teams traded buckets for the first four minutes of action with the score knotted, 7-7, with 15:40 remaining. St. Edward's (10-14, 6-10 HC) got on a hot streak after that, outscoring the Rattlers, 16-1, over the next five minutes to take a 23-8 lead, with 10:57 left in the half. JOHN RUTHERFORD had the hot hand, connecting on two shots from downtown and another jumper for eight points during the stretch.
 
St. Mary's (18-7, 11-7 HC) would battle back and get the deficit within single digits but three free throws by JAMES STUKES and another three-ball from Rutherford gave St. Edward's a 32-27 lead at intermission.
 
In the second half, the Rattlers came out of the break with comeback on their minds. Marvin Whitt led the charge by scoring six points for St. Mary's, as they opened the half on a 15-7 run to take a 42-39 lead with 14 minutes left.
 
St. Edward's would fight back and tie the score on four different occasions. They eventually took the lead on a three-pointer by TYLER FOSTER at the 11:13 mark.
 
The Rattlers had the answer in Marvin Binney and Fred Wilson as both scored four points each in an 8-0 St. Mary's run. That gave the visitors a 56-49 advantage with 7:50 remaining.
 
St. Mary's would keep in front for the next six minutes and held a 68-65 lead with under a minute to play.  Both teams would trade a pair of free throws before Whitt hit another free throw to put the Rattlers up four points with 13 seconds remaining. JOHN GRAMLICH came around a screen at the top of the key and nailed a trey to cut the lead to 71-70 with seven seconds left. After Whitt made both free throws to move the lead back to three, Foster's three-point attempt at the buzzer went in and out.
 
RAMIR BURTON led the Hilltoppers with 12 points, while Rutherford added 11 points off of the bench. Both Gramlich and HARLEY NUSSMAN chipped in with 10 points. Nussman added a game-high eight rebounds and also registered four blocks.
 
The Hilltoppers will be back in action Thursday when they travel to take on UT-Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Falcon Dome. Live video and stats will be available on the Falcon Athletic Website.