MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's (3-0) imposed their will against Akron (1-2) on Tuesday evening to the tune of a +29 rebounding margin and +42 on paint scoring, en route to an 87-68 victory. Akron is the first team that the Gaels have faced who earned a berth to last year's NCAA Tournament, but the Gaels handled the defending MAC Tournament Champions with ease, never trailing in the contest.
Saint Mary's never trailed in the first half, but despite leading wire to wire in the first 20, Akron managed to keep things relatively close. 150 ticks into the frame, the Gaels and Zips were locked in a 6-6 stalemate, but a 13-2 run sparked by a trio of triples from freshman phenom Mikey Lewis pushed the SMC lead out to double-digits for the first time at 19-8. The Zips kept their nose to the grindstone, however, and over the next six minutes, were able to widdle the deficit all the way down to one. Another prolonged Gaels run, this time at a margin of 10-3, would close the half, and Saint Mary's would take a 38-30 lead into the halftime break. Mikey Lewis set a new career-high in the first half, scoring 15 of the Gaels 38 first half points, shooting 5-9 from the field, while burying 3-4 three point attempts. Mitchell Saxen's seven points and eight rebounds, and Paulius Muraskas' six points and 10 boards helped the Gaels to an incredible +18 margin on the glass and +18 margin for points in the paint.
Akron would open up the second half with a three on their opening possession to cut the deficit to five points, but the Gaels would push their lead back to double digits, thanks to a 10-0 run that featured eight Harry Wessels points, and would keep it there for the remainder of the contest, ultimately ending the game with a 19 point victory, their largest lead of the game. Wessels was the story of the second half for the Gaels, as he totalled 12 points on 6-7 shooting in just nine minutes of play. Paulius Murauskas chipped in 11 more with five rebounds and five assists, while Augustas Marciulionis went for nine points and six assists with no turnovers in the second stanza. Saint Mary's shot a blistering 60.6% from the field in the second half, and had assists on 15 of their 20 baskets. 36 of their 49 second half points were scored in the paint.
The Gaels had five scorers in double figures, led by Mikey Lewis, who scored 18 points, including a 4-6 three point shooting clip. Paulius Murauskas added 17 points and 15 rebounds for his third double-double in as many games as a Gael. It was a big day for the Gaels centers, as Mitchell Saxen logged his first double-double of 2024-25 with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Harry Wessels chipped in 12 points and six boards off the bench. Rounding out the group of double-digit scorers was Augustas Marciulionis, who scored 11, but added a career-high tying 11 assists and no turnovers. Saint Mary's recorded three double-doubles in a single game for the first time since 2011. The Gaels seemed to hold a massive margin in every "bruiser stat" including a +29 rebounding margin, a +22 margin in second chance scoring, a +42 margin on points in the paint.
TRIPLE DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Saint Mary's had two players record double-doubles in the same game on three separate occasions last season, and added another double-double in the opener vs Towson last week, however, tonight, the Gaels accomplished something that they hadn't done since 11/28/2011, as they had three players record a double-double in the same game. Paulius Murauskas was the first to reach his double-double mark, tallying 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for his third in as many games in a Saint Mary's uniform. He is the first Gael to record three consecutive double-doubles since Mitchell Saxen did it in 2022-23 against BYU, USF and Gonzaga. Next was the aformetioned Saxen, who broke out of his early season cold spell to put up a solid 11 point, 11 rebound evening for his 16th career double-double. Rounding out the group was Augustas Marciulionis, who finished with 11 points, tied his career-high with 11 assists, and had 0 turnovers. The last group to accomplish this feat featured Rob Jones, Matthew Dellavedova and Kenton Walker in a contest against Weber State.
A POINT GUARD'S DREAM
Augustas Marciulionis entered this evening's game averaging 7.5 assists per contest and holding an assist to turnover ratio of 5.0. Those numbers ranked third and second in the conference respectively, however, those rankings should climb after tonight's contest that featured 11 assists and no turnovers. Marciulionis previously had a career-high of six assists when not committing a turnover, but blew that number out of the water tonight. He now averages 8.7 assists per game and holds an astonishing assist to turnover of 8.7, also. His assist per game mark should jump him into the top-15 in the NCAA, while the assist to turnover ratio will rank in the top-20.
BIG BOYS GETTING IT DONE
Saint Mary's knew that they'd have a size advantage in this one, with Akron's tallest player standing at 6-8, and the trio of Mitchell Saxen, Harry Wessels and Paulius Murauskas were able to exploit that advantage to a win tonight. The trio combined for 40 points and 32 rebounds, helping the Gaels to massive advantage on the glass, in second chance scoring and in points in the paint. 10 of Saxen's 11 points came in the paint, with one coming at the free throw line, as did all 12 of Wessel's points. Murauskas, however, was the leader in paint points, with 14 of his 17 coming from within the key. The trio was excellent on the offensive glass, generating multiple second chance opportunities and scores. Murauskas had three o-boards that resulted in seven second chance points, Saxen had six that results in five second chance points, and Harry Wessels had four that resulted in five second chance points.
POSTGAME CHAT
Freshman guard
Mikey Lewis sat down with broadcaster Brian Brownfield postgame to discuss his career night:
UP NEXT
The Gaels will have their first matchup with a "Power-Four" opponent on Sunday, as they head to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for a neutral site clash with Nebraska. Tip off is set for 12 PM CST/10 AM PST.
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