MBB | Gaels Roll to 23-Point Win in Home Opener

Tuesday, December 1

Moraga, CA

7:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

3-1,0-0WCC

Nicholls

2-3,0-0Southland

Nicholls St.

Saint Mary's (CA)

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

MBB | Gaels Roll to 23-Point Win in Home Opener

12/1/2020 10:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

MORAGA, Calif. — The Gaels' (3-1) home opener went about as well as head coach Randy Bennett could've hoped for as Saint Mary's jumped to an early lead and never looked back against Nicholls (2-3) on Tuesday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Alex Ducas narrowly missed his second straight 20-plus point game as he scored 19 in only 24 minutes to lead SMC. The sophomore was automatic against Nicholls' defense as he went 7-for-9 from the floor and cashed in on five treys while grabbing a team-high seven boards. Tommy Kuhse tied his career-high in assists with 10 and added eight points.

Kyle Bowen had a career-night with a personal best 10 points, all of which were scored in the first half. Dan Fotu also added 10 as the team's third double-digit scorer.

Saint Mary's did little wrong in Tuesday's contest as they knocked down 49 percent of their shots, including 12-of-24 threes, had 16 assists, and outrebounded the Colonels 38-28.

The defense also had a strong effort as they held Nicholls to shoot just 36 percent on the night, a season-best for SMC through four games. Shawn Williams ended up scoring 11 points to lead the Colonels.

The Gaels separated halfway through the first half as Quinn Clinton and Jabe Mullins connected on back-to-back threes while Bowen added another bucket to put SMC up 18-6. By the time halftime rolled around, Saint Mary's was up 39-25 and the team had made nine of 16 tries from beyond the arc.

Saint Mary's kept the pedal to the floor to open the second half with a 11-0 run scored by four different Gaels.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
39: The Gaels led for over 39 minutes in the contest.
30: Saint Mary's largest lead of the game which came with 4:12 remaining.
8: Leemet Böckler scored eight points on 2-of-2 shooting and 2-of-2 made free throws.
27: SMC received 27 points off their bench.
9: Nine different Gaels scored in the game.

UP NEXT: TEXAS SOUTHERN
The Gaels stay in Moraga for their next game against Texas Southern on Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game can be seen on the WCC Network.

#GaelsRise