AUSTIN, Texas—The St. Edward's Men's Basketball team defeated rival St. Mary's, 78-64, Thursday evening at the Recreation and Convocation Center. In the second game of the Battle of the Saints contest, the Hilltoppers knocked off the first-place Rattlers. The win snaps the St. Mary's 13-game winning streak against the Hilltoppers. It was also Head Coach Andre Cook's first ever defeat of the Rattlers.
 
In their last match up earlier this season, St. Mary's (13-9, 10-5 HC) downed St. Edward's (17-6, 9-6 HC), 86-57. Right from the tip, the audience at the RCC could tell this would be a different game. JOHN GRAMLICH found rhythm early on hitting a baseline three pointer off an assist from FRANKIE MGBOLU to tie the game, 6-6. Two jumpers from the Rattlers and a made free throw would give the visitors a 12-9 advantage with 13:37 left in the first half.
 
Then JAE RICKETTS entered the game. Ricketts went 4-of-4 from the line, grabbed a steal which he converted into a fast-break layup, and knocked down a three. He also registered an assist to AUBRIE KING, also coming off the bench, who sank two three pointers. In just under four minutes, Ricketts and King helped the Hilltoppers go from a 12-12 stalemate to a 26-20 advantage with 7:29 remaining.
 
Another three from King gave the home team a five-point edge. Rattlers Isaiah Matthews and Marvin Binney battled to keep the lead low as the first half came to a close. Matthews' layup brought St. Mary's within three, 29-26. Gramlich and Mgbolu responded with two back-to-back plays in which Mgbolu dished it out to the hot-handed Gramlich, who made good on two open shots from downtown.  The Hilltoppers closed out the half ahead, 37-30.
 
St. Edward's opened the second frame with a seven-point run, bringing the score to 44-34. The Gramlich-Mgbolu connection found success again from behind the arc to cap off the 10-point lead and force a St. Mary's timeout. Justin Alexander of the visiting team came out of the timeout and made two layups, cutting the Hilltopper lead to six points with 15:38 left in the contest. It would be Gramlich again who stretched the lead back to 10 with a pull-up jumper and a layup off a no-look bounce pass from QUINTON LILLEY.
 
St. Mary's J.J. Bolton got a triple to fall and then registered a three-point play, which brought the tally to 52-45 at the 11:18 mark. ETHAN GILBERT fired back, swishing a shot from deep. The very next play, AUBRIE KING pulled up in front of a defender and knocked down a three pointer as the shot clock expired to put the Hilltoppers up 13 points, 58-45, with 8:34 remaining.
 
Again, Alexander went to work to put the Rattlers back into contention. He had help from Marvin Whitt. The two combined for 10 points in the next four minutes, but could not overtake St. Edward's, who still had a double-digit advantage. HARLEY NUSSMAN scored six points in the final five minutes to put the Hilltoppers up 72-59. TREY LINDSEY delivered the final blows with a layup and a tip-in, bringing the score to 78-64.
 
JOHN GRAMLICH led all scorers with 18 points and recorded a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range. King and Ricketts had outstanding performances off the bench, registering 14 and 11 points, respectively. Nussman had a solid game with eight points, seven boards and three blocks.
 
The Hilltoppers continue Heartland Conference play as they take on Texas A&M-International Saturday. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. Live coverage will be available on Hilltopper Athletic Website.