Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

SMC California Athletics

Saint Mary's College Athletics Gaels
Tommy Kuhse carries the ball vs LMU
Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
51
Loyola Marymount LMU 9-18,3-10 WCC
57
Winner Saint Mary's (CA) SMC 22-6,9-4 WCC
Loyola Marymount LMU
9-18,3-10 WCC
51
Final
57
Saint Mary's (CA) SMC
22-6,9-4 WCC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Loyola Marymount LMU 26 25 51
Saint Mary's (CA) SMC 34 23 57

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

MBB | Defense Steps Up in Win Over LMU

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's (22-6, 9-4 WCC) completed the regular season sweep of LMU after defeating the Lions 57-51 on Thursday. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Malik Fitts carried the Gaels' offense throughout the contest as he contributed 20 points and six rebounds. Kyle Bowen was another key component in the action as he set career-highs in both points and rebounds with seven in each category.

Jordan Ford added 12 for his 27th game this year with at least double digit points. Tanner Krebs finished with 10 points to boot. 

The Gaels shot only 22.7 percent in the second half and went 1-for-14 from three but managed to play sturdy defense to preserve the win. LMU didn't make a 3-pointer in the final 20 minutes and shot 38 percent overall.

Eli Scott scored six straight points in the final minutes to make things interesting and cut the Gaels' lead down to four but SMC would knock down four straight free throws in response to open their lead back up. 

The Gaels redeemed their offensive struggles by knocking down all 16 of their free throw attempts, a program record for their best single-game performance at the line. The team's previous best was a 12-for-12 game against San Diego back in 2015. 

Saint Mary's defense came out strong out of halftime and after a quick LMU bucket to begin the period, the Lions were held scoreless for nearly six minutes. The Gaels unfortunately went cold during the same span but managed to stretch their lead out to 11. 

LMU snuck back into the game in the final minute of the first half with a 7-0 run to make it a six-point game. Elijah Thomas threw down a dunk to beat the buzzer however and put SMC up 34-26 at the break. Tanner Krebs and Malik Fitts each put up eight points while posting three boards a piece in the half to lead the team. 

Saint Mary's had a slow start in the first few minutes of action as four of their first six points were scored from the charity stripe. SMC then picked up the pace as they hit a pair of free throws and canned three straight treys for an 11-1 run that put them up 15-6 with 12 minutes to play. 

Saint Mary's and Loyola Marymount entered the game as some of the slowest tempo teams in the country. The Gaels rank 337th while the Lions were 350th out of 353 teams. 

QUOTABLE
Kyle Bowen: "Eli Scott is one of the toughest guys in the conference to guard, so I just tried to focus on limiting his shots down the stretch. Conference play is such a different experience from non-conference but I feel like I'm in a great place development-wise. With [Matthias] Tass out, I've had to work on transitioning to the five-spot so I'm just trying to be a sponge and learn as much as I can in my freshman season."

NUMBERS TO KNOW
51: The lowest allowed number of points scored by an opponent since Jan. 23 against USF (48).
14: Saint Mary's largest lead of the game which came in the first half.
11: Fitts has landed double-digit points in the last 11 contests. 
10: Saint Mary's improved to 19-2 in games with 10 or more assists. 

UP NEXT: SAN DIEGO
The Gaels will remain at home to host San Diego at 5 p.m. on Saturday for their final home contest of the regular season. Fans are encouraged to show up early to the game as Saint Mary's will honor their four seniors pregame. 
Print Friendly Version