MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's remained composed in the final minutes of Saturday's matchup against Lehigh to close out an 11-point and earn their fourth consecutive win. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Saint Mary's had two scorers reach the 20-point plateau on the night. Unsurprisingly, Jordan Ford had 20, his fifth game already this season with at least that many, while Tanner Krebs also contributed a season-high 20 on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. Krebs' total was just three points shy of his career-high set against Seattle during his sophomore campaign. 

Despite their high scoring total, the Gaels were a lackluster 41 percent from the field, marking their first game since Winthrop where they shot under 50 percent. However, Saint Mary's did have success at both the free throw line (22-of-27) and from beyond the arc (10-of-25) to help fuel the offense. 

Malik Fitts added nine points and had seven rebounds and Tommy Kuhse contributed eight points while picking up three assists. Krebs, Kuhse and Matthias Tass each had three dimes to lead the team. 

Saint Mary's led in the contest for the first nine minutes and change before Lehigh took their first lead of the matchup following an 8-0 run to go ahead 18-16. The Mountain Hawks would continue to hold the lead until Ford drained his first points of the night on a three-pointer from well beyond the arc to put SMC back in the lead 21-20.

A 4-0 run by the Mountain Hawks late in the first half would cut the Gaels' lead to 35-32 heading into the locker room. Another layup to begin the final period would bring Lehigh within one but Krebs and Ford kept the points coming and both landed threes to start a 12-2 run for the Gaels. With 14 minutes to go in the contest, Logan Johnson added to the parade of threes with his first points of the night. 

Strong free throw shooting would help Saint Mary's maintain a multiple possession lead for the remainder of the game. After shooting just four times at the charity stripe in the opening 20, the Gaels went to the line 23 times in the final half and converted 17 of those attempts. Lehigh took 17 free throw attempts in the game with 11 coming in the second half as well. 

Jordan Cohen had a game-high 26 points for the Mountain Hawks on 8-of-16 shooting and was a perfect 9-for-9 at the stripe. Center James Karnik was second on the team with 13 points and recorded a double-double with 10 boards. 

QUOTABLE
"I think it wasn't our best shooting game from two but overall we did a good job with our shooting from three. For the next game we will just work on our shooting from the field and get back into a good rhythm." - Assistant coach Marcus Schroeder

NUMBERS TO KNOW
5: SMC committed only five turnovers, a season-low. 
15: Saint Mary's had 15 assists in the game and are now 5-0 this season in games with 10 or more. 
25: The Gaels attempted 25 three-pointers in contest, a season-high. 
7: Dan Fotu picked up seven points in 16 minutes off the bench. 
11: Saint Mary's defense had a season-high 11 steals which led to 15 points. 

UP NEXT: SONOMA STATE
The Gaels will play again on Sunday night versus Sonoma State at 7:00 p.m. The contest will support Grateful Gatherings and admission as well as parking for all fans will be free.