SAN ANTONIO — St. Mary's (Texas) did its best impression of Midwestern State basketball in the finale of the Thanksgiving Classic at Bill Greehey Arena.

The Rattlers dominated the glass by a +15 margin to regain control of the game in the second half to claim a 63-50 win over MSU.

"I'm not sure if I've ever had a team get out rebounded by 10," MSU coach Nelson Haggerty said. "You have to give credit to St. Mary's. They played tough and executed when they needed."

St. Mary's used a 13-0 run midway through the first half to open up a 21-8 lead when Kriston Minor buried his second triple of the half with 6:29 to play.

MSU shook off its first half cold spell to chip away at the Rattlers' lead closing the half on an 8-1 run to close to within 26-23 on Xavier Blackburn's layup 46 seconds before intermission.

The Mustangs continued to work closer at the beginning of the second half as Trevor Fuller's tip-in off of Hershell Grant's driving layup attempt four minutes into the half had MSU to within 32-31.

Redshirt-freshman guard Devante Pullum, who was making his first collegiate start, drew a player control foul on the St. Mary's following possession to give the Mustangs a shot at their first lead since early in the contest.

Grant drove to the basket and had his shot cleared off of the rim. Grant and the Mustangs didn't get benefit of a defensive goal tend on St. Mary's Joe Monroe as the Rattlers converted a transition to ignite a 9-1 run to regain a 41-32 lead.

"There was a lot of time left in the game at that point," Haggerty said. "We just weren't able to work our way back into the game."

MSU was able to generate a few turnovers using a full court press and reverted to a 2-3 zone in both halves.

"The zone is not something we are used to showing and I am sure they weren't prepared for it," Haggerty said. "We needed to do something to get stops that weren't coming in our man defense."

Midwestern would get no closer than seven the rest of the way as the Rattlers controlled a 25-10 edge on the glass after intermission.

Minor dropped in 11 points, while senior guard Marvin Binney added 10 more for St. Mary's which improved to 2-3 on the season.

Blackburn knocked down a pair of 3-pointers on his way to 16 points and five steals to lead the Mustangs, while Pullum finished in double figures for the second straight game with 11.

Midwestern State takes on McMurry (Texas) Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.