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SMC California Athletics

Saint Mary's College Athletics Gaels
Jock Perry
Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
90
Winner Gonzaga Gonz 25-1,11-0 WCC
60
Saint Mary's (CA) SMC 20-6,7-4 WCC
Winner
Gonzaga Gonz
25-1,11-0 WCC
90
Final
60
Saint Mary's (CA) SMC
20-6,7-4 WCC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Gonzaga Gonz 53 37 90
Saint Mary's (CA) SMC 28 32 60

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

MBB | Gaels Drop One to No. 2 Zags at Home

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's (20-6, 7-4 WCC) got down early in Saturday's game to No. 2 Gonzaga (25-1, 11-0 WCC) and couldn't dig out of a big first half hole as they fell 90-60 to the Zags. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Jordan Ford led the Gaels with a 23-point performance while going 10-for-20 from the floor. Malik Fitts had 12 points and Dan Fotu tacked on eight more. 

Despite some turnover issues, the Zags' offense was firing on all cylinders as they shot 68 percent in the contest. Gonzaga was unconscious to begin the game, making 14 of their first 15 tries and used a 14-0 run to pull ahead by 22 with eight minutes to play in the first half. 

Gonzaga had 15 turnovers compared to 14 for the Gaels in the game. 

Saint Mary's shot 43 percent in the game and 46 percent in the second half. SMC was only outscored by five in the final half and knocked down four of their nine 3-point attempts. 

Drew Timme led the Zags with 20 points and was 7-of-8 on shooting. Killian Tillie had 19 and three other Gonzaga players also reached double figures. 

Coming out of the half, the Gaels were able to string together a few buckets to cut the deficit down to 17 with a 10-2 run. Saint Mary's unfortunately wouldn't be able to chop that lead down any further in the game. 

The Gaels trailed 53-28 going into halftime. The Zags shot 74 percent from the field and were 5-of-6 from beyond the arc in the opening 20. SMC shot 40 percent in the period but were 0-for-5 from 3-point and had just one assist. 

QUOTABLE
Randy Bennett: "We knew Gonzaga would be focused tonight and it showed. We needed our bigs to do a better job in the paint tonight because that's where they hurt us. I didn't like our matchups in this game and we didn't do what we need to do as far as coverage. I don't remember the last time we were down by that much against them, the only other time in 19 years I can think of was last year. I told them that our leadership has got to be better, we got to fight through the pressure and their initial defense if we're going to get our shots against them."

NUMBERS TO KNOW
12: 12 different Gaels appeared in the game. 
25: Jordan Ford has now scored double digit points in all but one game this year. 
5: Ford led the team with five rebounds. 
10: Gonzaga outrebounded Saint Mary's by 10, 33-23. 
42: 42 of the Gaels' points came inside the paint. 

UP NEXT: PACIFIC 
Saint Mary's will have their "bye-week" next week as they only host Pacific at home on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. 
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