MORAGA, Calif. — With Saint Mary's Men's Basketball playing at home for the first time in 23 days, there was a bit of a tense feeling in the air of University Credit Union Pavilion. Santa Clara was the opposition, a team that had won back-to-back games in this building in stunning, last-second fashion. Thursday night's duel was nearly as tight, but the Gaels were able to make enough stops late in the game and sink a few free throws to win 73-65 in front of the home crowd. Saint Mary's improves to 14-4 (2-1) while the Broncos fall to 11-7 (1-2).
 
TO LIVE AND TO DIE
Saint Mary's shoots the three-ball well inside University Credit Union Pavilion, and they came out firing on Thursday night. It took a while for the Gaels to find their stroke, but when they did, they began erasing an early deficit. Tommy Kuhse knocked down back-to-back three pointers with about eight minutes remaining in the first half to tie the game at 22-22. This was just a microcosm of the game for the Gaels, who attempted 25 three-pointers and made nine of them, with Kuhse and Alex Ducas each hitting three. While it might not always have gone down, some of the biggest shots of the game for SMC came from distance, and that's when the Gaels are at their best.
 
GIVE ME FUEL
Jabe Mullins and Matthias Tass were two of the most instrumental players for the first 14 minutes of the second half. With Ducas in foul trouble, Mullins came in and became a scorer, making a three-pointer and a pair of shots down low en route to eight second-half points, the second-most he's scored in a game all season. Once Mullins cooled off, Matthias Tass found his rhythm again, scoring nine of his 13 points in the second half, and grabbing eight of his 10 rebounds. After not having a double-double in his career, Tass has now recorded a points-rebounds double-double in three-straight games. Tass is the first Gael with three-straight double-doubles since Malik Fitts from November 29-December 5 of 2019.
 
THE SMALL HOURS
As the previous two matchups between these teams in Moraga have gone, Thursday's game went down to the wire. The Broncos made it a 63-60 Saint Mary's lead with 6:25 left, and it stayed that way until Ducas made a pair of free throws nearly three minutes later. The Broncos then nailed a three to make it 65-63, and after a Kuhse jumper, SCU again answered to make it a two-point game with under two minutes left. The Broncos would not score again, however, as Kuhse hit a pair of tough layups in the paint before Ducas iced the game with free throws, leading to the eight-point final.
 
THE END OF THE LINE
The Gaels closed out the first half on a 26-12 run after falling behind by seven points…the biggest difference in the game was the SMC bench, outscoring the Broncos bench by a whopping 30-3…with just eight turnovers, the Gaels had their best game in terms of keeping care of the basketball since the Bellarmine game on November 17 (six turnovers)…points off of turnovers was also heavily in the Gaels favor, out-scoring the Broncos 16-8…three Gaels had 6+ rebounds (Tass, Kuhse, and Kyle Bowen)…despite not having a great shooting night, Augustas Marciulionis made plays, leading the Gaels with six assists.  
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's heads out on the road for Saturday's contest against Loyola Marymount, the first of two meetings between the Gaels and Lions this season. Tip-off of Saturday's game is at 7:00 pm and the match will be televised on ESPNU. The Gaels have had a lot recent success against the Lions, winning 18-straight games and 29 of the last 30 games. Their last loss at Gersten Pavilion came in 2006, when the Gaels lost a regular season contest against the LMU.
 
#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