Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

SMC California Athletics

Saint Mary's College Athletics Gaels
Tommy Kuhse vs USF
Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
48
San Francisco USF 14-7,3-3 WCC
58
Winner Saint Mary's (CA) SMC 17-4,4-2 WCC
San Francisco USF
14-7,3-3 WCC
48
Final
58
Saint Mary's (CA) SMC
17-4,4-2 WCC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
San Francisco USF 28 20 48
Saint Mary's (CA) SMC 25 33 58

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

MBB | Gaels Come From Behind to Beat Dons, 58-48

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's (17-4, 4-2 WCC) came from behind on Australian Heritage Night in University Credit Union Pavilion to beat San Francisco (14-7, 3-3 WCC) in a gritty defensive battle, 58-48.  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Malik Fitts, who came into the game averaging over 21 points in games versus USF, put up a team-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and banged home two treys. The redshirt junior was money in the second half as he totaled 12 points and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field. 

The 48 points scored by San Francisco tied a season-low by SMC opponents this year with the other 48-point game coming against Cal Poly. The Dons' offense ranked among the top-50 in the country coming into Thursday's contest but Saint Mary's defense stifled USF to just 36 percent shooting and 7-for-24 from deep.  

After trailing by 14 at one point during the opening 20, the Gaels chopped that lead down to one just before the half and went into the break down by only three, 28-25. Fitts led the team with six points at that point.

The Gaels would go on to outscore USF 33-20 in the final half. After making only a third of their shots in the opening 20, the Gaels connected on 59 percent of their field goals in the second half. 

With 14 minutes to play, Tanner Krebs gave the Gaels their first lead of the game since the 18:07 mark of the first half with a layup under the hoop. USF eventually would tie the game with 7:50 remaining but Saint Mary's responded with another 9-0 run to take their largest lead of the game. 

With a full court press on late, Krebs hit a three in the final minute to all but ice the game as he put SMC up 10. The Australian redshirt senior finished the game with nine points, all coming in the final half. 

Saint Mary's was cold to start the game and were 1-for-14 from the field during a stretch early in the opening period with 10 straight misses. Alex Ducas finally broke the three with a corner three at 9:34 in the half. An ensuing 9-0 run by the Gaels cut the Dons' lead to five with just over four minutes to play in the half. Tommy Kuhse capped off the run with a circus shot off one foot to beat the buzzer and get a roaring applause from the home crowd. 

USF jumped out to an 11-0 run in the opening minutes to go up 13-4 at the first media timeout. Jamaree Bouyea had eight of those 13 points on perfect 3-for-3 shooting. 

Bouyea finished with a game-high 19 points for the Dons. Charles Mineland was second on the team with nine but was 4-for-17 on shot attempts. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
17: The Gaels forced 17 USF turnovers and ended the game with 11 steals. 
7: Tommy Kuhse had seven assists while coming off the bench, his most in a game since Arizona State. 
73: Jordan Ford went 0-for-9 from the field marking his first game in the last 73 contests where he didn't record a bucket. 
15: Saint Mary's Australians totaled 15 points on the night. 
8: SMC had only eight turnovers in the contest. 

UP NEXT: LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
Saint Mary's will travel down to Los Angeles to meet the Lions for the first time this season on Saturday. Tip-off for the game is at 6 p.m.
Print Friendly Version