Cashaw, Mency lead Rice past D-II St. Edward's 91-86 (Dec 14, 2017)

HOUSTON (AP) Connor Cashaw tied his career high with 27 points, Bishop Mency added a career-high 21 and Rice held off Division II St. Edward's 91-86 on Thursday morning.

Rice (3-7) led 50-36 at the half but an 8-0 run allowed the Hilltoppers to pull within 80-79 on a Corey Shervill 3-pointer with 6:04 to go. Then the Owls reeled off seven straight capped by a Cashaw jumper for an 87-79 lead with 3:32 remaining.

The teams traded 3-pointers, Shervill and Mency, before two straight St. Edward's baskets made it 90-86 with 49 seconds, but that was the end of the run.

Cachaw was 12 of 20 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds for his second double-double. Mency was 8 of 12 with five of Rice's seven 3-pointers. The Owls went 24 of 32 but all the misses were in the second half after an 11 for 11 first half.

Dorian Lopez had 15 points for the Hilltoppers, who used the game as an exhibition. Shervill, a freshman, had 12 with 10 boards and James Taylor had 12. St. Edwards had 12 3s, eight in the second half, but was outscored by 16 at the line.