FRISCO, Texas – CONOR MCMANUS scored 12 consecutive points for St. Edward's down the stretch and GAVINO RAMOS added seven more for good measure to break open a three-point game into an 84-74 victory over St. Mary's in the Lone Star Conference Quarterfinals. 
 
"St. Mary's was nationally-ranked and first in the league not too long ago. They're fifth in the region and still very good. To beat anyone three times in nine days – especially your I-35 rival – is pretty good,"  St. Edward's Head Men's Basketball Coach Andre Cook says. "I'm super thrilled with where our guys are. I wouldn't have believed you if you told us we'd be here back when we were 11-9 with a 5-6 conference record. We were really down and now we get to play another rival in Dallas Baptist." 
 
St. Edward's defeated St. Mary's twice the previous week, opening the final week of the regular season with a home win to clinch a spot in the LSC Tournament, then defeating St. Mary's on a last-second shot from Ramos. 
 
St. Mary's opened the game with newfound intensity, using the motivation of its previous two losses to reel off a 12-2 run out of the gate, with half the points coming from Eman Lawal. 
 
LEWIS ROWE steadied St. Edward's, using his size, passing, and soft shooting touch to carve the Hilltoppers out a foothold in the game. The 6-foot-10 center found Ramos for a jumper, then Ramos returned the favor, hitting Rowe for a layup. 
 
Rowe blocked a Lachlan Bofinger layup, then made his short flip shot on a feed from JAMISON KAY. Kay hit a 3-pointer, found Rowe for another layup, and scored on a fastbreak triggered by a McManus steal and Ramos assist to pull St. Edward's within one at 16-15. 
 
LATIEK BRISCOE entered the game and continued the momentum with a driving layup, 3-pointer, and two free throws for the 22-20 lead with 9:07 remaining in the half. 
 
Bofinger stabilized St. Mary's in his second stint, getting back-to-back layups with a steal. The 6-foot-7 forward caught fire with 16 first-half points on 7-for-8 shooting to take the Rattlers to a 41-32 lead at the break. Rowe kept the Hilltoppers afloat with 16 points on 8-for-10 shooting, and Briscoe added seven off the bench. 
 
"After we beat them twice, I think there was a little bit of thinking we were just going to show up and win and that was not the case," Cook says. "There's a difference between playing hard and playing desperate. You play hard during the regular season on your normal Thursday and Saturday games. But we don't know what other teams are doing or the seeds, so this could be it. We needed to ramp it up from playing hard to playing desperate, and that's what keyed the results in the last 20 minutes." 
 
St. Edward's opened the second half on an 11-2 run, coming out of the break with a MASON COURTNEY layup off a feed from McManus, forcing a shot clock violation, followed by a 3-pointer from Ramos. Rowe capped off the run with his patented hook shot off a feed from Ramos to tie the game at 43.
 
Both teams exchanged points over the next few minutes, with Bofinger's driving layup making it a single-possession game at a 54-51 St. Edward's lead with 9:20 remaining. 
 
McManus made his first shot of the game on the ensuing St. Edward's possession, drilling the corner 3-pointer on a feed from Briscoe, and quickly made up for lost time. The junior forward followed with back-to-back layups, a 3-pointer, and a pull-up jumper over the next two minutes to extend St. Edward's lead to 66-56. 
 
"It was just seeing that first one go in. My first shot was on a pass from Latiek for the corner three, then Lewis hit me for a layup, and after that, coach called my number on a backdoor," McManus says. "We had 25 assists on 33 field goals made, so that all goes to my teammates." 
 
Ramos picked up where McManus left off, driving for two layups and draining a 3-pointer to extend the lead to an insurmountable 13 points. 
 
"I'm thrilled for Gavino. He and I have a special relationship. He's the point guard," Cook says. "We've been [to the conference tournament] together for three years and hadn't won. We haven't advanced to a regional in the last few years. I think we've shored up both those things and I'm happy for Gavino." 
 
Ramos scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, finishing 7-for-12 from the field with seven assists. McManus added 14 points on nine shots, Courtney had 12 points, and Rowe was spectacular with a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double, adding a pair of assists. 
 
"The system we have, we space well, guys know their roles. They know when to cut, when to space, and when to shoot," Rowe says. "It makes it easy to swing the ball to a plethora of guys shooting at a high clip right now. I pass Conor the ball and it damn near goes in every time." 
 
St. Edward's improves to 21-11 this season. The Hilltoppers advance to the LSC semifinals, where they'll take on the top-seeded Dallas Baptist Patriots, who routed Angelo State 85-63 earlier in the day. The two teams play at 6:00 p.m.