MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's (19-4, 6-2 WCC) extended their West Coast Conference winning streak to four games on Thursday night with an offensive outburst against Portland (9-14, 1-7 WCC). 

HOW IT HAPPENED
It was all Saint Mary's all night as the Gaels took down Portland by a 22-point margin, their largest point differential since December 28 against Seattle. The Gaels did not spend a second of the game trailing the Pilots and were only tied for 19 total seconds of the contest. SMC had multiple big leads throughout the night and at one point led Portland by 25 points with just over two minutes left to go in the matchup.

The Gaels were not afraid to take the shot tonight as they ended the night shooting 53 percent from the field and 45 percent from beyond the arc. The team shot 18-for-40 from the three-point line and set a new season-high in made treys, breaking their previous record of 17 that they collected against Sonoma State on November 24. Saint Mary's was also just one three-pointer shy of the program record 19 treys that was recorded during the 2015-16 season versus Cal Poly.

It was Malik Fitts and Jordan Ford who led the offense on Thursday night as the pair recorded 27 and 21 points, respectively. Fitts shot 10-for-17 from the field and 7-for-14 from the three-point line as he recorded new season-highs in threes made and attempted. He was just one shy of his season-high in points as he also picked up three steals, two assists and a rebound. Ford shot 8-for-15 on the night with five made threes for another night of strong offense. 

The Gaels were playing as a cohesive unit on Thursday night as they recorded 15 assists on 18 buckets in the first half alone. They ended the night with 23 total assists which is a new season-high for the team, surpassing their previous record of 22 recorded on November 24 against Sonoma State. 

Tommy Kuhse continued his trend of leading the team in assists as he collected eight on the night which ties his season-high and had four in the first half. Nine Gaels ended the night with at least one assist and seven players recorded at least one assist in the first half.

QUOTABLE
"The shots were falling tonight and that was good to see. My teammates did a good job of finding me and finding others as well. We did a good job of keeping Portland off the three." -Malik Fitts

NUMBERS TO KNOW
9: Steals for the Gaels against Portland, Fitts led with three
10: Number of SMC players who recorded points on Thursday
26: Points in the paint for Saint Mary's
40: 40 3-point attempts for the Gaels tied their program-record. 
13: All 13 healthy Gaels saw the court on Thursday. 

UP NEXT: BYU
Saint Mary's will head to Provo this weekend to face off against the BYU Cougars on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. PT.