Men's Basketball Rebounds for 69-54 Victory over Portland
1/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Moraga, CA - Daniel Kickert matched his career-high with 24 points to pace the Saint Mary's men's basketball team to a 69-54 victory over the Portland Pilots in a West Coast Conference game on Saturday night from McKeon Pavilion. With the win Saint Mary's improves to 9-7 overall and 2-1 in WCC action. Portland falls to 8-9 overall and 1-3 in WCC play.
Tyler Herr came off the bench to score 14 points and Frederic Adjiwanou chipped in with 10 points for the Gaels. Herr connected on 4-of-5 shots from the floor, while shooting 3-of-4 from three-point land. Adjiwanou grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Adam Caporn drew the responsibility of guarding Portland's leading scorer Casey Frandsen. Frandsen entered the game averaging 13 points and was held to nine points on 2-of-15 shooting. As a team, Saint Mary's held the Pilots to 28.0 percent (14-50) shooting from the floor and outreabouned Portland by a 40-33 margin. The Gaels would shot 47.5 percent (19-40) from the floor, while hitting on 6-of-13 attempts from long range.
After Portland took its only lead of the game at 5-4 early in the first half, Saint Mary's used a 12-4 run, capped by the first of two threes by Kickert, to open a 16-9 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half. Portland would cut the Gael lead to 18-14, before SMC took its biggest lead of the first half at 22-14 on two free throws by Jonathan Sanders with 7:00 minutes left in the half. Portland cut the SMC lead to four points (25-21) before the Gaels extend their lead to 27-21 at the intermission.
Saint Mary's shot 45.5 percent from the field in the first session while the Pilots were held to 30.0 percent shooting from the floor. Saint Mary's forced 11 Pilot turnovers in the half, while committing 10 turnovers. The Gaels also struggled from the free throw line, making just 4-of-9 attmepts over thr first 20 minutes.
Portland opened the second half with four straight points to cut the deficit to 27-25. From there SMC would use a 13-3 run to open a 12-point (40-28) lead with 13:10 remaining in the game. Back-to-back threes by Tyler Herr and Daniel Kickert capped the run for the Gaels. SMC would continue to open its lead to as many as 14 points, 46-32, with just under nine minutes left to play. Portland would cut the Saint Mary's lead to single digits, 55-46, with just over three minutes to play. The Gaels would regain its double-digit advantage and battle to a 15-point win.
The Saint Mary's men's basketball team will return to action on Saturday, January 25 when it travels to Santa Clara. Tip-off for the game at the Leavey Center is scheduled to tip-off at 7:05 PM.
MBB | SMC vs. Vanderbilt NCAA First Round Postgame Interview
Saturday, March 22
MBB | SMC vs. Gonzaga 2025 WCC Finals Postgame Interview
Wednesday, March 12
MBB | SMC vs. Gonzaga WCC Finals Game Highlights
Tuesday, March 11
MBB | SMC vs. Pepperdine WCC Tournament Postgame Interview
Monday, March 10
