MBB | Gaels Fend Off Nevada To Wrap Up Impressive Week

Saturday, December 21

San Francisco, CA

9:30 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

12-2,0-0WCC

Nevada

8-5,1-0Mountain West

Nevada

Saint Mary's (CA)

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

MBB | Gaels Fend Off Nevada To Wrap Up Impressive Week

12/22/2019 12:47:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO — Saint Mary's battled through an off shooting night for a big win over Nevada at the Chase Center on Saturday night, 68-63. The Gaels are now 12-2 in their non-conference schedule with one more home game against Seattle before beginning West Coast Conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Once again for Saint Mary's, it was Malik Fitts and Jordan Ford who racked up the points to fuel the team's offense. Fitts finished with a game-high 23 as well as six rebounds while Ford added 21 and had five boards of his own. Fitts was awarded Player of the Game after the game by the host committee.

Matthias Tass and Tommy Kuhse also posted double-figures points with 11 each while Tanner Krebs chipped in two. Those five Gaels scored all 68 points in the win.

After shooting 62 percent from beyond the arc in their previous matchup against Arizona State, Saint Mary's couldn't buy a trey as they finished 3-for-20 from deep. The Gaels missed their first eight 3-point attempts and were 2-for-14 at halftime but managed to grind out the win by scoring 42 points in the paint. SMC led the country in 3-point percentage coming into the game.

The Gaels were clutch down the stretch as they made seven of their final eight field goal tries while limiting Nevada to go 2-for-9 in that span. SMC only led for 13-and-a-half minutes in the contest but held the advantage when it mattered most, including the final five minutes of action.

Nevada took a 38-35 lead into the locker room after Kuhse drilled a three to beat the buzzer. Despite their early shooting struggles, SMC never trailed by more than six in the first half and were able to stay afloat by shooting 12-of-19 on 2-point attempts. Tass had 11 at half while Fitts and Kuhse each scored nine.

Saint Mary's and Nevada went back and forth in the early going of the second half but the Gaels finally earned some separation with an 11-0 run to go up seven. An ensuing 7-0 run by the Wolf Pack would tie the game up with just over eight minutes remaining, 52-all.

Nevada was led by former Portland Pilot Jazz Johnson who had 17 points and hit three triples. Jalen Harris scored 13 and collected eight rebounds.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
10: Saint Mary's finished with 10 assists and are now 12-0 in games with at least 10 helpers.
6: The Gaels committed just six turnovers compared to 16 for Nevada.
4: Malik Fitts has scored 20 or more points in each of the last four games.
8: SMC has now won eight of their last nine games against Mountain West teams.

UP NEXT: SEATTLE
Saint Mary's returns to Moraga for their final non-conference game of the year on Dec. 28 versus the Red Hawks. Tickets for the game can be purchased by clicking here.