SAN ANTONIO – Senior GAVINO RAMOS put on one final show in front of his hometown, delivering a 67-65 road victory for St. Edward's with a twisting, game-winning shot in the regular-season finale against St. Mary's. 
 
Ramos grew up in Alamo City, where he starred for Antonian and won two state championships and the 2021 Express-News Player of the Year. In his final collegiate regular-season game, he led his Hilltoppers with 23 points, four assists, and two steals. 
 
St. Edward's opened the game with a 10-0 run in the game's first four minutes. Ramos answered a St. Mary's game-opening 3-pointer with one of his own, then CONOR MCMANUS ripped Eman Lawal and found Ramos for a fastbreak layup. McManus picked up two more assists, hitting MASON COURTNEY for a layup and a 3-pointer for the 10-3 lead. 
 
McManus led St. Edward's with 10 points in the half, hitting 4-for-7 from the field with two 3-pointers. He also grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists. 
 
St. Mary's closed the gap with a 7-0 run led by Lawyer Jones, who hit a 3-pointer at 7:22, then stole the ball, leading to a Wayne Wiggins free throw. Jones pilfered another steal, leading to another St. Mary's made free throw. Jones capped off the run by finding Eddie McPhee for a layup, tying the game at 25. 
 
Both teams traded buckets down the stretch, and St. Mary's took its first lead since the opening bucket on a floater from Claxton as time expired at 31-30. 
 
St. Mary's carried the lead for most of the second half, extending it to 10 with a 7-0 run midway through to go up 45-35 with 11:27 remaining. The Rattlers hit the glass for seven second-chance points, Lawal got to the free-throw line and hit two layups for eight second-half points, and Claxton hit a pair of 3-pointers and free throws for another eight. 
 
LATIEK BRISCOE sparked St. Edward's with a layup and pull-up jumper, then LUKE KISER found McManus for another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to three. St. Mary's stabilized itself, keeping the lead between five and seven over the next few minutes until Ramos took over in the closing four minutes. 
 
Ramos earned a trip to the free-throw line riding out the defensive pressure, drawing a foul in the bonus and hitting both. Then, Ramos drew the soft hedge in a pick-and-roll with JAMISON KAY, finding him on the move for a layup and foul on the 3-point play. 
 
After the Rattlers scored a layup during their press break, Ramos and Kay returned to the two-man game with an inverse pick-and-roll, which led to two more Kay free throws. McManus made another huge defensive play, knocking the ball out of bounds off a Rattler, which led to another pair of Ramos free throws. 
 
Claxton hit a 3-pointer with three minutes remaining to put St. Mary's up six, and Ramos answered with a 3-pointer off a feed from LEWIS ROWE, then rejected a screen with a sweeping right-to-left crossover to pull St. Edward's within one. Then, Ramos hit a 3-pointer off a kickout from Kay to give St. Edward's the 65-63 lead with under a minute remaining. 
 
Lawal tied the game on a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left, and St. Edward's head coach Andre Cook put the ball in his senior point guard's hands with no timeout against St. Mary's 6-foot-7 forward Lawal. 
 
Ramos started his final play with 10 seconds remaining, receiving a high screen from Lowe, forcing the switch from Lawal to Franklin Agu. Ramos turned the corner and jump-stopped into the paint, showing the ball to get two defenders into the air, then pivoted away to sink a turnaround jumper over Lawal's long, outstretched arm for the winner. Ramos scored 18 second-half points, including 14 in the final four minutes. 
 
St. Edward's improves to 20-11 with a 13-8 conference record after its second victory over St. Mary's this week. Ramos's shot secures St. Edward's the fifth seed in the Lone Star Conference Tournament and sets up a third consecutive Battle of the Saints against St. Mary's.