SAN ANTONIO â€" The Texas Lutheran men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with NCAA Division II-opponent St. Mary's (Texas), giving the Rattlers all they wanted in a 73-64 exhibition loss on the road on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Bulldogs actually won the second half, outscoring the Rattlers 35-33 in the final 20 minutes after falling behind by 11 in the first half. The Bulldogs showed they can battle back, twice battling back from down as many as 16 to get the game within single digits in the second half. They just couldn't make the final push against a St. Mary's squad coming off a Sweet 16 appearance in the Division II National Tournament last season.
 
The two teams' shooting numbers were almost identical with both teams shooting almost 37 percent from the field. The Bulldogs outshot the Rattlers from three-point range, making 5-of-12 (41.7%) from deep while holding St. Mary's to 5-of-15 (33.3%) from behind the arc.
 
The key to the game turned out to be rebounding. Texas Lutheran had difficulty keeping the Rattlers off the glass, with St. Mary's racking up 53 total rebounds compared to 25 for the Bulldogs. The difference was on the offensive glass, where St. Mary's pulled down 22 rebounds compared to six for TLU.
 
Leading the way for the Bulldogs was freshman guard Jordan Kouremetis (San Antonio, Texas), who finished with a game-high 16 points to go along with two steals and an assist. The young guard came off the bench and played 25 minutes, flashing a talent for getting to the line and, most importantly, making his free throws after sinking 8-of-11 from the charity stripe.
 
Two other players scored in double figures for the Bulldogs. Garrett Wilkins (Austin, Texas) poured in 11 points and Troy Griffith (San Antonio, Texas) scored 10. Griffith, a senior, also led the team with five rebounds.
 
For St. Mary's, the game was not an exhibition and the win improved the Rattlers to 3-1 on the year. They were paced by Isaiah Matthews and Christian Bower, who both scored 12 points. Matthews chipped in eight rebounds to go along with those 12 points.
 
Texas Lutheran will get its regular season underway on Monday with its home opener against The Open Bible College at 7 p.m. in Memorial Gymnasium. The game will be live video streamed at TLUBulldogs.com.