MORAGA, Calif. — The Gaels (24-6, 15-0 WCC) are alone at the top of the WCC, and with tonight's 83-57 victory over Pepperdine (12-19, 5-11 WCC), they guaranteed that this is where they will end the regular season. For the first time in over a decade, the Gaels locked up the WCC Regular Season crown outright, taking care of business for their 16th consecutive victory.

Pepperdine hung tough with the Gaels for the first 11 minutes, keeping the Gaels within two possessions in that time. The flood gates then opened for the Gaels at the 8:38 mark of the frame when Mason Forbes buried a layup to spark a 25-8 run to close out the half. At the first half break, Saint Mary's led 51-28. The Gaels shot at an eye-popping 65% clip for the half, due in big part to the fact that many of their shots came from within 10 feet of the basket. As such, Saint Mary's scored 28 of their 51 first half points in the paint. Augustas Marciulionis was the driving force behind the Gaels offensive explosion, with 13 points and seven assists, scoring or assisting on more than half of the Saint Mary's made field goals. Luke Barrett added 10 off the bench and a team-high five rebounds, while Mason Forbes and Chris Howell each chipped in nine, a new career-high for Howell. 
 
The Gaels pumped the brakes a bit in the second half, with their comfortable lead that never less than 14 points in the second half. Alex Ducas had nine second half points and six second half rebounds as the Gaels fifth year standout made a yet another huge impact for the Gaels, something fans have become quite accustomed to. After a quiet first, Mitchell Saxen added eight points on 4-5 shooting in the second frame. The Gaels once again shot better than 50% in the second half, and extended their lead to as large as 27, eventually winning by 26. 

Augustas Marciulionis notched his second double-double in as many games, with a team high 17 points and 11 assists, while also reeling in six rebounds. Luke Barrett dropped 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Ducas (12), Mason Forbes (11) and Mitchell Saxen all reached double figures, while Chris Howeel scored a career-best nine. 

BACK-TO-BACK TEAM EDITION
For only the second time in program history, the Gaels have won at least a share of the conference regular season title in back to back campaigns. The only other time the Gaels achieved this feat was in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. In even more deja vu fashion, the Gaels, who won the conference regular season title outright tonight, won their last outright regular season conference title in 2012. 

BACK-TO-BACK GOOSE EDITION
Augustas Marciulionis put up his second consecutive double-double, going for 17 points and 11 assists, both team-highs, against Pepperdine. Marciulionis shot 6-12 from the field, and tied his career high in assists, set just five days earlier against San Diego. The junior out of Vilnius, Lithuania has been the driving force behind the Gaels 15-0 conference start, averaging 14 points and 7 assists per contest in WCC play with a 3.5 assist to turnover ratio. 

ROAD SWEET ROAD
With tonight's victory, the Gaels completed their first ever perfect road season in program history. Winners of all nine of their road contests, the Gaels picked up signature wins in hostile territory over Colorado State, San Francisco and Gonzaga. Their previous best road seasons came in 2017-18, 2016-17 and 1988-89, in each of which they went 10-1. In each of those seasons, the Gaels also earned at least a share of the WCC Regular Season Title.
UP NEXT
The Gaels final regular season contest will be against Gonzaga at home. Tip off is set for 7 PM on Saturday, March 2. 

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