MORAGA, Calif. — The much-anticipated home opener for Saint Mary's Men's Basketball lived up to the hype on Monday night. The Gaels began their 2022-23 season with a home contest against Oral Roberts, pitting two of the premier mid-major programs in the NCAA against one another. Behind a near-sellout crowd on opening night, the Gaels were able to race out to a large halftime lead and hang on for a 78-70 win to kickstart the season. With the win, Saint Mary's tied the program record for most consecutive home victories (19).
 
STARTING FAST
The Gaels were a second-half team all season long one year ago, with most of their offensive efficiency coming after halftime adjustments were made. That was not the case on Monday, as Saint Mary's had one of their best first halves in some time. Everything was clicking, with the Gaels putting up 47 points in the opening 20 minutes, while holding the potent Golden Eagles offense to just 29 points and 3-13 from three-point range. What was perhaps even more impressive was the turnover differential, where the Gaels forced seven and only coughed it up once.
 
SECOND HALF SWITCH
Saint Mary's was not nearly as effective in the second half and they had to weather quite the swarm from the Golden Eagles. With the Gaels holding steady to a 56-40 lead, Oral Roberts used a fast 12-2 run that eclipsed just over two minutes to suddenly make it a six-point game with 11:48 remaining. The deficit closed to just four points with 7:39 remaining after another five points from ORU, but then Mitchell Saxen answered with four-straight points on consecutive possessions to help the Gaels right the ship.
 
HE'S PRETTY GOOD
Monday marked the collegiate debut of Aidan Mahaney, the local product from Lafayette who graduated from Campolindo High School just down the road. He was dazzling in his first game, playing 26 minutes off the bench and leading all players with 25 points on 8-19 shooting, including 5-12 from the beyond the arc. His 25 points scored in his collegiate debut are the most points scored by a Gael in his collegiate debut in the Randy Bennett era. He was important in both halves, scoring 13 in the first and making some big free throws in the second half en route to 12 points.
 
FIRST OF MANY TO COME
Mitchell Saxen got his first collegiate start on Monday night and was one of the standout performers on the squad, finishing second on the Gaels with 16 points in 32 minutes. He made a lot of tough shots in the paint, working on ORU's 7-5 center, Connor Vanover, having to work high off the glass. He also added eight rebounds and five assists, pacing the Gaels in assists on a night when they only racked up nine.
 
AMONG OTHER NUMBERS
The nine assists are the fewest the Gaels have had in a win since they also had nine in their win over Notre Dame in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational last November…Logan Johnson finished just rebound shy of his first collegiate double-double (10 points, 9 rebounds)…Kyle Bowen set a career-best with 11 rebounds, helping the Gaels win the battle on the boards by six…Saint Mary's finished the game with just five turnovers, going +7 in that department…seven Gaels tied or set career-bests in minutes played…Alex Ducas (10 points) and Augustas Marciulionis (9 points) both had their biggest impact in the game in the first half, where they accounted for 14 of their 19 points.
   
UP NEXT
The Gaels will go for the program record of consecutive home wins on Thursday night when they host Vermont at 7:00 pm inside University Credit Union Pavilion. The Catamounts make the trip out to Moraga for the first time after opening up the season with an 80-65 win over Brown. SMC plays the first five games of the season at home before they leave for the first time, when they head to the Paycom Wooden Legacy during Thanksgiving week.