St. Edward’s men’s basketball hosted the University of Texas-Tyler at the Recreation and Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon and cruised to a 90-77 win.

It was chilly in the 512, but Gavino Ramos was red-hot from beyond the arc in the first half. The sophomore guard from San Antonio hit his first three 3-pointers and scored 15 points in the first half. He led the Hilltoppers in scoring in the first half as they went into the locker room with a 43-33 lead.

All-Conference forward Uche Dibiamaka got himself into a bit of foul trouble in the first half, so the Hilltoppers had to navigate through the court without him, holding it down until Head Coach Andre Cook felt he needed to put his star back into the game as the Patriots cut the lead to 52-45 with 13:48 remaining. Instantly, Uche started a 7-0 run with five of his own points in 48 seconds, pushing the lead back up to 14, when UT-Tyler Head Coach, Louis Wilson, called a timeout with 13 minutes remaining in the final half. From then on, it was all Hilltoppers. 

Jeff Gary would lead the Hilltoppers with 20 points on 7-12 shooting. Ramos added 17 points, on 4-7 from 3-point land. Blake Nielsen was just one assist shy of a double double, scoring 13 points. For the Patriots, Rashun Williams had 19 points and five rebounds in only 23 minutes of work. Quinn Smith added 11 points and four rebounds on 4/6 shooting.

UT-Tyler drops to 9-11 overall and 5-11 in conference play. The win moves St. Edward’s to 17-7 on the year and 11-4 in league play. Up next for the Hilltoppers is University of Arkansas Fort Smith at home on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m.