Dec. 3, 2004

Final Stats

By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) - E.J. Rowland made a career-high five 3-pointers and scored 19 points, and Saint Mary's finally found its outside shooting touch in a 67-58 victory over Delaware on Thursday night.

Daniel Kickert added 14 points and six rebounds and Frederic Adjiwanou had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Gaels (5-3), who led by as many as 23 points in the second half but allowed the Blue Hens to end the game with a 14-2 run over the final 8{ minutes.

Jonathan Sanders also scored 11 for Saint Mary's in the first meeting between the schools.

Harding Nana led Delaware with 21 points, but he was the only one in double figures for the Blue Hens (2-2), who never found a rhythm on offense and were outhustled for much of the game.

The Gaels had one of their better games this season from 3-point range, shooting 8-for-20 after coming in shooting a West Coast Conference-worst 26.2 percent from long range. Rowland was 5-for-9 on 3s and also had five assists.

Saint Mary's, which will have traveled more than 16,500 miles by the conclusion of its crazy preseason schedule, responded with a big win after a 66-58 loss at Rutgers on Saturday in which the Gaels shot just 5-for-14 from the foul line.

The Blue Hens, coming off a 63-60 win at Loyola of Maryland on Monday night, had little success stopping the Gaels' perimeter shooters whether they played man-to-man or zone defense.

Saint Mary's struggled to defend the paint early, but held Delaware without a field goal for more than four minutes late in the first half and to just one basket over the final 6:13 of the half. The Gaels held a 42-28 edge at the break.

Saint Mary's guard Paul Marigney, the West Coast Conference's leading scoring last season, is academically ineligible and might not return by his target date of Dec. 11 at Hawaii because he still has some work to finish.

But Erik Bond, a transfer from California, will be eligible to play for the Gaels for the first time in the Hawaii game.