MORAGA, Calif. — The stellar start to conference play rolled on for the Gaels (14-3, 4-0 WCC) on Tuesday night, as Saint Mary's stymied the LMU Lions (9-8, 1-4 WCC) 81-56. The Gaels stellar defense was once again on display, as they have now held each of their last three opponents under 60 points, and are holding WCC foes to 53.8 points per game. The Gaels never trailed in this one, and spent less than 90 seconds tied in an overall dominant performance.
The Gaels continued their trend of stellar defensive first halves, taking a 30-24 lead into the halftime break. Saint Mary's and LMU played to a seven all stalemate through the first 6:36 of this one, but a 12-2 run, sparked by nine points from Mikey Lewis, would give SMC a 19-9 lead at the 9:08 mark. The Lions would shave the deficit to as close to two, but a 6-2 spurt and a Paulius Murauskas block at the buzzer would end the half with an exclamation point, and a 30-24 lead. Augustas Marciulionis would lead the scoring charge for the Gaels in the first half, with 10 points, going a perfect 2-2 from the field and 5-6 from the stripe. Mikey Lewis chipped in nine in just six minutes of play. Luke Barrett, Paulius Murauskas and Mitchell Saxen combined for 19 of the Gaels 24 first half rebounds, as the Gaels finished +12 on the glass through the opening 20. 10 of those 24 rebounds were of the offensive variety, and, as such, the Gaels outscored the Lions 14-2 on second chance opportunities.
The offensive flood gates opened for Saint Mary's in the second half, as they scored 50+ in a second half for the second consecutive game. After scoring the final bucket of the first half, the Gaels opened the second an 8-0 run generated all from the Lithuanian duo of Augustas Marciulionis and Paulius Murauskas, extending the lead to 14. LMU would twice cut things back to within nine points, but a 15-4 run between the 13:11 and 8:52 marks would push SMC ahead 59-39, making the deficit too much for the Lions to overcome. The lead ballooned as large as 28 points with a minute to go, before ultimately settling at 25 points, 81-56. Augustus Marciulionis again led the Gaels in the second half, dropping 13 points on 5-8 shooting, including 3-4 from three. Marciulionis also came up with two steals, moving him into the top-10 in program history in that category. After being held to just two combined points in the first half, both Paulius Murauskas and Luke Barrett scored 10 in the second half. Barrett didn't miss from the field (3-3) or the stripe (4-4), while ripping down a team-high four second half rebounds. Saint Mary's turned the ball over just once in the second half, with less than three minutes left in regulation, playing near perfect basketball for the first 17 minutes of the second half. LMU did score off of that turnover, but the Gaels forced eight second half Lion turnovers, resulting in 11 points. The Gaels were frequent visitors to the charity stripe in the second half, and made every trip count, going 15-16 on second half free throw attempts.
Augustas Marciulionis scored 23 for his second consecutive 20+ point outing. This is only the second time in his career in which he has scored 20+ in back to back contests. Marciulionis also connected on a career-high four three pointers, was one of three Gaels with a team-high two assists, and was part of a pair with a team best two steals. Luke Barrett went for 12 points and 10 boards, good for his fifth double-double on the season and in his career, while both Paulius Murauskas (10 pts, 8 reb) and Mitchell Saxen (7 pts, 10 reb) both narrowly missed their own double-doubles. The Gaels have now gone four consecutive game committing fewer than 10 turnovers, and shot a season best 89.3% from the free throw line.
ANOTHER 20 PIECE FOR GOOSE…AND THAT'S NOT ALL
For only the second time in his career, Augustas Marciulionis has scored 20+ in back to back contests. The last time he did this also featured a matchup with LMU, last season, when he scored 25 against the Lions at home on 1/27/24 before adding 20 more against Santa Clara at home on 1/31. In both instances, Marciulionis scored 45 points in a two game span, his career best in that span. Tonight, the Gael point guard was able to score the rock both inside and out, and set a new career-high, with four made three pointers, doing so extremely efficiently on only five attempts. Goose also added another impressive line to his resume tonight, as with two steals against the Lions, he moved to 10th all-time in program history with 120 steals, surpassing Tommy Kuhse. He now joins Gael greats David Carter '89, Kamran Sufi '97 and Matthew Dellavedova '13 as the only SMC players to rank in the top-10 in program history in assists and steals.
TAKING ADVANTAGE FROM THE STRIPE
Saint Mary's was gifted 28 trips to the free throw line on 22 LMU fouls this evening, and made the most out of those opportunities, connecting on 25 of 28 free throw attempts. Leading the way was Jordan Ross, who buried all six of his attempts, while Luke Barrett (4-4), Paulius Murauskas (3-3), Harry Wessels (2-2) and Cade Bennett (2-2) were all also perfect from the charity stripe. Augustas Marciulionis and Mitchell Saxen also shot well, going a combined 8-10. The 25 made free throws and 89.3% clip were both season high marks for the Gaels, while the 28 attempts is good for fourth most on the campaign.
NEAR PERFECT SECOND HALF
Saint Mary's turned the ball over just one time in the second half, coming with only 2:55 remaining in the game, and it was a big reason as to why they were able to score 51 points in the second half en route to a 25 point victory. By not giving away possessions, the Gaels were able to hoist 32 second half shots to LMU's 24, converting on 15 of those (47%) including 6-11 three point attempts (55%). On top of this, the Gaels were fouled 10 times in the second half, resulting in 16 free throw attempts, 15 of which were converted. In the second frame, point guard Augustas Marciulionis went 5-8 from the field, including 3-4 from three without turning the ball over, while Luke Barrett and Kevin Gad combined to go a perfect 5-5 from the field in the second stanza, also with zero combined turnovers. Saint Mary's outscored the Lions 11-2 off of turnovers in the second half, with more than half of those points off of miscues coming in the first 10 minutes of the second frame, allowing the Gaels to run away with things.
POSTGAME CHAT
UP NEXT
The Gaels will have a few extra days after playing on Tuesday night to prepare for a road trip to San Diego and a date with the Toreros. Tip off for that one is set for 7 PM on January 11 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
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