PHOENIX — Saint Mary's Men's Basketball kicked off the Jerry Colangelo Classic on Friday night with a neutral-site game against the San Diego State Aztecs. For the second year in a row these teams met on a neutral floor, and the Gaels were looking avenge last season's loss to the Aztecs. A back-and-forth affair early on seemed to play to the strengths of the Gaels, but ultimately SDSU pulled away late for the 63-53 win. The Gaels drop to 10-3 while the Aztecs improve to 7-3.
 
DEFENSE ON DISPLAY
Both teams entered Friday's contest ranked inside the top-11 in defensive efficiency, and both teams got off to great starts on defense in the first half. With neither team scoring more than 26 points in the opening 20 minutes, both the Gaels and Aztecs shot below 40%. There were a combined 15 turnovers in the opening half, and only five made three-pointers. Perhaps Kyle Bowen's first half numbers best embodied the opening stanza: no points, two steals, and seven rebounds.
 
CLIMBING BACK UP
After getting down by 11 early in the second half, Saint Mary's used a strong push to get back within one in the later stages of the game. Matthias Tass was the early engine to get the Gaels in motion, hitting a pair of layups and two free throws to make it a 47-41 game. Then the Gaels started getting contributions all over the floor, with Tommy Kuhse knocking down a layup off the glass, and Jabe Mullins hitting a three from the right wing. Down by three, Augustas Marciulionis recorded one of his four steals on the night and finished with a layup to make it 49-48 with just 7:33 remaining, the closest the Gaels would get.
 
AMONG OTHER NUMBERS
Tass finished the game with 12 points, and recorded three blocks, his most since a career-best four against Eastern Washington last December…Kuhse was the Gaels leading scorer with 13 points, his most since the Maui Invitational…the four steals for Marciulionis were a career-best…until hitting a three-pointer in the second half, Kyle Bowen was held scoreless but was making a difference with two steals and eight rebounds…SMC won the points off of turnover battle 14-7 despite both teams having 14 rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will spend the final two games of the 2021 portion of the season at home when they return to Moraga to take on Missouri State and Yale. The Gaels and Bears will square off on Wednesday, December 22 inside University Credit Union Pavilion for the first time since 2011, and the first time in Moraga. Following a break for the Christmas holiday, the Gaels will wrap up non-conference play on December 28 against Yale.
 
#GaelsRise — 2021-22 tickets and ticket packages are on sale now! To purchase tickets, click HERE. If you have questions, contact the ticket office by email smctickets@stmarys-ca.edu or call 925-631-4689…Saint Mary's Basketball…#TogetherAgain