MORAGA, Calif. – All 12 active player for Saint Mary's (5-0) saw at least seven minutes of action, as the Gaels cruised to a 78-38 victory over the Stanislaus State Warriors (3-1) of the NCAA DII ranks. The Gaels led wire-to-wire for the second time this season, once again flexing their muscles against an undersized team to the tune of 51 rebounds, 13 offensive rebounds, 48 points in the paint and 15 second chance points.
The Gaels opened the game by converting on each of their first four field goals as well as a pair of free throws to build an early 10-4 lead. It wasn't until the 15:51 mark in the first half that Saint Mary's would miss their first shot, but the Warriors kept the intensity up, keeping the score deficit between two and three possessions for the first seven minutes and change. Just shy of the second media timeout, however, the Gaels began to string together long runs of stops and scores, outscoring Stanislaus 29-9 over the final 12:30 of the first half, taking a 44-18 lead into the break. Augustas Marciulionis led the way for the Gaels with 10 points, converting on 4-5 field goal attempts, including a pair of threes. Paulius Murauskas added six points and a team-high seven rebounds in the first frame, while Jordan Ross also scored six and tied with Marciulionis and Cade Bennett for the team lead with a pair of assists. The Gaels demonstrated their physicality throughout the first half, finishing out the frame +13 on the boards, +7 on second chance points and +14 on points in the paint.
Momentum from the first rolled into the second, as the Gaels opened up their lead to 37 points with 10:52 remaining, riding a 16-5 stretch to open the half. The Saint Mary's lead would remain in the 30s until Andrew McKeever would score a layup in the final possession to push it out to 40 at 78-38, the eventual final score. In his collegiate debut, McKeever went for 10 points and seven boards, all coming in 10:40 of play in the second half. Cade Bennett added five more assists in the second half of play, with the Gaels recording 10 of their 14 made field goals in the second half off of assists. 23 of the Gaels 34 second half points came from the bench, while 24 of their 34 were scored in the paint.
Four different Gaels scored in double figures, led by Harry Wessels, who scored 14, shooting 71% from the field and a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe. Right behind Wessels was Augustas Marciulionis, who chipped in 14, knocking down three triples for the second time this season. Paulius Murauskas and Andrew McKeever each scored 10, with their rebounding totals at 11 and seven respectively. Cade Bennett led the team with a career-high seven dimes to just one turnover, while Jordan Ross dished out five with just one turnover.
CAREER-HIGHS A-PLENTY
Plenty of Gaels were able to record career marks in a number of categories this evening. In his collegiate debut, every number was a career-high for Andrew McKeever, but most notably, the redshirt freshman out of Livermore scored 10 points, connecting on 5-6 field goal attempts, and ripped down seven rebounds, including three of the offensive variety. On the other end of the floor McKeever used his size to his advantage defensively with two massive rejections. Cade Bennett also had a career-high scoring output, with five, connecting on multiple field goal attempts for the first time in his career. Bennett also had a career-high in rebounding (3), assists (7) and minutes played (17). His previous highs in assists and minutes played also came against Stanislaus State a year ago. Ashton Hardaway set a new career-high with seven rebounds to go along with his new Saint Mary's scoring high of seven points, while Jordan Ross had a career-best five assists, to go along with eight points. Rounding out the group, Joshua Dent picked up his first two collegiate rebounds and his first collegiate assists.
BARRETT, A MUST PLAY
Despite not putting up jaw-dropping numbers tonight (7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals), Luke Barrett made his presence felt when he was on the court, as the Gaels were +45 when the Piedmont native was on the floor. Barrett played nearly 29 minutes this evening, often leading the Gaels on long scoring runs, due in part to both his savvy offense and stellar defense. This season, the Gaels are +92 when Barrett is on the floor. More impressively, Barrett leads the team with 177 minutes played in the first five games of the year, as he has gone from spark plug off the bench to spark plug on the floor for a majority of the Saint Mary's contests.
POSTGAME CHAT
UP NEXT
The Gaels will next welcome Cal Poly to UCU Pavilion on Saturday, November 23. Tip-off is set for 5 PM in that one.
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