MBB | Fitts Drops 27 in Loss to Harvard - SMC California Athletics

Saturday, November 24

Moraga, Calif.

6:00 p.m. PT

Saint Mary's College of California

3-3

Harvard

3-3

Harvard University

Saint Mary's (CA)

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

MBB | Fitts Drops 27 in Loss to Harvard

11/24/2018 9:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Malik Fitts had a season-high 27 points against the Crimson on Saturday night in the Gaels' 74-68 loss.

MORAGA, Calif. — Facing a 13-point deficit in the second half, the Gaels fought back against Harvard (3-3) on Saturday night to make it a one-possession game, but ultimately couldn't complete the comeback as they fell 74-68 in McKeon Pavilion.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Malik Fitts led the Gaels (3-3) with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting on the night. The redshirt sophomore also grabbed 13 boards for his second double-double of the year. It was the second time this season Fitts recorded 20-plus points in a game as he also put up 20 at New Mexico State.

After trailing by as much as 13, the Gaels clawed back midway through the second half with an 11-1 run to trim Harvard's lead to two. Fitts ended the run with an exclamation point as he slammed down a one-handed jam to force Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker to call timeout.

The Crimson responded with a 6-0 run however to pull back ahead by eight and would maintain a five to seven point lead for the majority of the final minutes to clinch their third win of the year.

Tanner Krebs and Jordan Hunter also notched double-digit points during the game with 11 each on successful shooting numbers. Krebs was 2-of-5 from deep while Hunter was 3-of-5 from the field and went to the stripe nine times. The Australian center tied his career-high in points Saturday night while also snagging six rebounds.

Harvard managed to keep Saint Mary's leading scorer Jordan Ford largely off the scoreboard as the junior guard attempted only 10 shots and made just two. Ford finished the night with nine points, seven of which came in the second half.

Harvard took a 10-point lead into the half as they shot 56 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Despite coming into the game leading the conference in three-point shooting, the Gaels were 1-of-10 in the first half and only 36 percent overall from the field.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

4: Four Gaels played over 30 minutes, including Ford who played all 40.
8: Saint Mary's had eight steals and were led by Krebs and Ford who totaled three each.
18: The Gaels shot 18-percent from three-point range while coming into the game shooting over 38-percent as a team.
27: Fitts' game-high 27 points were only two shy of his career-high against Memphis while playing at South Florida.

UP NEXT: UC IRVINE

Saint Mary's returns to McKeon Pavilion for their next contest against UC Irvine on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the game can be purchased by clicking here or by calling the Ticket Office at (925) 631-GoTx.