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SMC California Athletics

Saint Mary's College Athletics Gaels
Jordan Ford at Pepperdine
Martin A. Folb
77
Saint Mary's SMC 13-9, 4-3 WCC
84
Winner Pepperdine PEP 10-11, 3-4 WCC
Saint Mary's SMC
13-9, 4-3 WCC
77
Final
84
Pepperdine PEP
10-11, 3-4 WCC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Saint Mary's SMC 31 38 8 77
Pepperdine PEP 32 37 15 84

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

MBB | Gaels Rally But Fall in Overtime to Waves

Despite their offensive struggles, Saint Mary's managed to force overtime in Malibu but ultimately couldn't overcome Colbey Ross and the Waves.

MALIBU, Calif. — The Gaels battled back to erase a 9-point deficit in the second half of Saturday night's game against Pepperdine to force overtime but came up just shy in a 77-64 loss.

HOW IT HAPPENED
With only two minutes and change left in the contest, Jordan Ford charged to the rim and dropped in a layup to give the Gaels a 1-point lead, their first lead in nearly 14 minutes. The bucket capped off a 12-3 run for Saint Mary's over a four minute span.

Both teams exchanged buckets for two more minutes before Ford once again hit a layup to put the Gaels up one with just 22 seconds remaining.

Immediately after, Pepperdine's Colbey Ross managed to draw a foul and make the first of his two free throws with six seconds left to tie the score but clanked his second off iron allowing SMC one more opportunity to take the game. Ford dribbled down the court and handed off to Malik Fitts who drove into the lane but was called for an offensive foul with just one second on the clock and the two teams went into overtime.

The overtime session proved to go back-and-forth once again but with 26 seconds to play, Ross hit a dagger three to put Pepperdine up by five. The Gaels would miss a shot at the other end and foul to ultimately fall by seven.

Fitts nearly secured his fifth double-double of the season with 27 points and nine rebounds in a sterling offensive performance. It was the third straight game Fitts has led the offense in scoring and seventh time this season.

Ford tacked on 17 points and four dimes while Jordan Hunter just missed a double-double in his own right with 10 points and nine boards in 23 minutes of action.

For the second straight game, Saint Mary's struggled from 3-point land as the team shot just 22 percent on 32 total attempts and began the contest 1-for-8. The Gaels were 5-for-20 in their last game against BYU.

The Gaels couldn't seem to catch a break as Pepperdine made 23 of their 25 free throws and shot an unconscious 58 percent (11-of-19) from beyond the arc. Ross was responsible for 16 of those free throws attempts and made 15 of them. The Waves came into the contest shooting 73 percent from the charity stripe, which was seventh in the conference.

Pepperdine held a tight lead to begin the game but with nine minutes to play in the half, the Gaels jumped to an 8-0 run in a span of a minute to go ahead by five. Kameron Edwards would score five straight in the final minutes however to give the Waves a 32-31 edge into halftime break. Fitts led the Gaels' first half efforts with 11 points while Krebs trailed closely behind with nine points.

Saint Mary's came out of the break swinging by nailing each of their first six attempts from the field. Pepperdine was equally effective in that span however, going 4-for-5 on field goals, to limit the Gaels from extending their lead. Shortly after, the Waves went on a 13-2 run to take a five point advantage.

Two free throws from Ross gave the Waves a 9-point lead with nine minutes to play for their largest margin of the game. Ross led all scorers with 29 points, including 11 in overtime, while Edwards victimized the Gaels an additional 24.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
  • 8: Matthias Tass scored a career-high eight points and played in a career-high 22 minutes.
  • 9: Saint Mary's recorded nine assists in the game; the Gaels are 1-9 in contests with 9 or less dimes.
  • 10: Quinn Clinton played a career-high 10 minutes, all which came in the late stages of the game.
  • 16: The game was tied on 16 different occasions and there were 11 lead changes.  
  • 22: Saint Mary's shot 22.2 percent from 3-point in both the first and second half of regulation.

UP NEXT: SAN FRANCISCO
  • The Gaels return back to McKeon Pavilion in one week for a Saturday showdown with the Dons. Links and tickets can be found on the Gaels' schedule page.
 
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