MORAGA, Calif. — After dropping a tight battle with Boise State, the Gaels will return home to host the Vikings of Cleveland State, before heading to Fort Collins, Colorado for their first true road game of the contest against the highly rated Colorado State Rams. Although it has been a slow start for the Gaels in 2023-24, they will hope for a couple of big victories to pull back to 0.500 this week.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Cleveland State Vikings
Tuesday, December 5 at 7:00 PM PST
UCU Pavilion - Moraga, Calif.
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Saint Mary's Gaels at Colorado State Rams
Saturday, December 9 at 4:30 PM MST/3:30 PM PST
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A COUPLE OF HEART-BREAKERS
The Gaels dropped a pair of close contests in their last two matchups against Utah and Boise State. At home against Utah, the Gaels found themselves tied at 38 at the halftime break, but allowed the Utes to go on a 29-14 run to start the second half, and despite cutting the deficit to just four, would eventually fall 78-71. Against Boise in Idaho Falls, the Gaels surrendered an 11-0 run in the first 4+ minutes of the game, and would outscore the Broncos 60-52 throughout the remainder of the contest, but it was not enough to overcome the early deficit, falling 63-60. The Gaels have put together 30-35 minutes of solid basketball consistently this season, but need to find a way to avoid surrendering long scoring runs to their opponents. If they can do this, the Gaels still have plenty of time to right the ship this season.
80 MINUTES AND COUNTING…
Aidan Mahaney has now played 80 consecutive minutes without being subbed off the court. He is the only Gael averaging double-digit scoring outputs per game, and is the team's leader with 25 assists. Aidan continues to be a leader on the court, doing everything in his power to will the Gaels to victory, as Saint Mary's continues to look for consistent secondary and tertiary scoring options.
ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Cleveland State is off to a 6-3 start, and split their first two conference matchups this past week. A 21-14 team and CBI qualifier from a year ago, the Vikings will make their first trip to California since playing at LMU last year. The team returns three starters from a season ago, including 2022-23 first team All-Horizon League selectee Tristan Enaruna. A majority of the team's offensive production comes from those three returning starters, Enaruna, Drew Lowder and Tae Williams, all averaging double digit scoring per contest. Second year Head Coach Daniyal Robinson surpassed the 20 win mark in his debut season at the helm, and now will look to guide Cleveland State to their fourth NCAA Tournament berth in program history. This team loves to force turnovers and run in transition, as they rank 19th in the NCAA in steals per game and 26th in fastbreak points. This will be the first ever meeting between the Gaels and Vikings.
ABOUT THE RAMS
Ranked 13th in the latest AP Poll and twelfth in the latest Coaches Poll, Colorado State has begun the season a perfect 8-0 on the year. They will square off with Denver at home on December 6 before taking on the Gaels in Fort Collins on December 9. After a 15-18 season a year ago, it's safe to say that the Rams have turned things around in 2023-24, as they have looked unstoppable to start the season under the direction of sixth year Head Coach Niko Medved. The Rams returned two starters from last year's squad, headlined by four time All-Mountain West point guard Isaiah Stevens. Stevens is the driving force behind the Colorado State offense, averaging 17 points and eight assists per game, but the Rams have also gotten big offensive contributions from Black Hills State transfer Joel Scott (15 PPG 7 RPG) and Colorado transfer Nique Clifford (12 PPG 6 RPG). The Rams have proven to be one of the best teams in the country when it comes to ball movement, consistently passing up good looks for great looks, as they rank in the top-10 in the nation in assists per game, assist/turnover ratio, field goal percentage and effective field goal percentage. This will be the seventh all-time meeting between the Gaels and Rams, including meetings in each of the last three seasons. Colorado State leads the all-time series 4-2.
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