MBB | Gaels Move to 7-0 for the Second Straight Season, Down Wichita State

Wednesday, November 26

Paradise Island, Bahamas

4:30 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

7-0,0-0WCC

Wichita State

4-2,0-0American

Saint Mary's (CA)

Wichita St.

Mikey Lewis: 15 pts, 3 ast, 2 stls

Photo by: Jonathan Lesane

MBB | Gaels Move to 7-0 for the Second Straight Season, Down Wichita State

11/26/2025 8:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — If you just began following Saint Mary's Basketball (7-0), then tonight's contest may have looked a bit odd, but for those long time Gael faithful, this was classic SMC hoops. The Gaels never led by more than 10 points this evening against Wichita State, but never trailed by more than five, as physical play on the board and in the trenches on both sides of the ball helped Saint Mary's outlast the Shockers by a 70-65 final tally. The win saw the Gaels move to 7-0 for the second straight year, and seventh time in program history.

The Gaels couldn't have asked for a better start to the first half, opening the game on a 13-4 run over the first 5:30 of the game, forcing the Shockers into an early timeout. Whatever Coach Paul Mills said to his team in that huddle connected, as Wichita State responded with a 12-0 run to swing the lead in their favor, 16-13. The Shockers would expand their lead to five points at 20-15, but the Gaels stayed in the fight, as Mikey Lewis found Dillan Shaw in the corner for a game tying three with 8:56 remaining. Both teams continued to trade buckets throughout the remainder of the half, with the Gaels building a lead as large as three, before eventually taking a 33-31 lead into the halftime break. Mikey Lewis led the Gaels with 11 points, but was so much more than a scorer, with three boards, three assists and two steals. Andrew McKeever added a team-high four rebounds and two blocks to go along with six points on 3-4 shooting. The Gaels won the turnover battle by a narrow 7-6 margin, but with the closeness of the game at the half, that turnover battle likely decided who led at the break.

Who else but Mikey? Mikey Lewis drains the first shot of the Gaels quest at the Battle 4 Atlantis!#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/zb3NIoTXNY
— Saint Mary's Hoops (@saintmaryshoops) November 27, 2025

Joshua Dent throws the lob up to the big fella, Andrew McKeever, for the tap in two!#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/8JFX0ulTGx
— Saint Mary's Hoops (@saintmaryshoops) November 27, 2025

All tied up early! Mikey Lewis finds Dillan Shaw for the corner triple! 20-20 from Atlantis!#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/rnQnde2nE2
— Saint Mary's Hoops (@saintmaryshoops) November 27, 2025

Don't know the name Andrew McKeever yet? Get to soon!#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/aXNOnaxZja
— Saint Mary's Hoops (@saintmaryshoops) November 27, 2025

LEWIS STEAL, LEWIS SCORE! Did we mention our big guy can pass?#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/xylPCPRqdJ
— Saint Mary's Hoops (@saintmaryshoops) November 27, 2025

Lewis with the tear drop, and the good box out by Rory Hawke earns him a trip to the line!#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/tdCJc8drxQ
— Saint Mary's Hoops (@saintmaryshoops) November 27, 2025

Wichita State tied the ballgame up twice in the first two and a half minutes of the second half, but struggled to get over the hump and out in front, due to the stymying Gaels defensive effort. While there was not a huge scoring run for the Gaels, they would nickel and dime their way to a 10 points lead with a pair of Joshua Dent free throw makes, bringing the score to 57-47 with 7:24 to go. From that point on, however, the Shockers would begin to widdle away at the deficit, and while the Gaels were knocking down free throws, they went a stretch of nearly six minutes without hitting a field goal. In that time, Wichita State outscored the Gaels 16-5, taking their first lead of the second half with 1:16 remaining. Following the Shockers three pointer that gave them that one point lead at 65-64, point guard Joshua Dent drove down the floor and hit a runner in the lane to push the Gaels back in front. That would spark a 6-0 run that Saint Mary's would ride to victory, downing the Shockers 70-65. After being limited to just six points in the opening stanza, Paulius Murauskas carried the Gaels in the second half, scoring 14 points and ripping down seven boards while not leaving the floor. Joshua Dent added eight, six of which came from three perfect trips to the line, while Andrew McKeever chipped in seven with 11 second half boards. The Gaels really imposed their will in the second half, drawing nine fouls, resulting in 18 free throw attempts, 15 of which they buried. Saint Mary's was also +5 on the boards (-3 in the first half), +3 in the turnover battle (+1 in the first half) and +10 in paint scoring (-6 in the first half).

Talk about passing up a good look for a great one! Kevin Gad to Andrew McKeever, the Livermore connection for the deuce!#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/grKiGMVWj4
— Saint Mary's Hoops (@saintmaryshoops) November 27, 2025

Josh Dent, with ice water in his veins, gives the Gaels the lead with less than a minute to go! Gaels 66, Shockers 65!#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/AWOK6aHTQZ
— Saint Mary's Hoops (@saintmaryshoops) November 27, 2025

Paulius Murauskas led all scorers with 20 points. It was his third 20+ point outing of the season, as he added nine rebounds as well for another stellar performance. Mikey Lewis continued to wear both scorer and playmaker hats, with 15 points and a team-high three assists to just one turnover. Andrew McKeever picked up double-double number two of his young career, going for 13 points and 15 boards, his second 15+ rebounds performance this year, while Joshua Dent rounded out the group of double-digit scorers with 10 points, including a perfect 6-6 clip from the strip that helped the Gaels ice the game. While the Gaels had season lows in many offensive categories, tonight was a demonstration of how well rounded this team is, being able to grind out a victory through physical play on both sides of the basketball when the shots aren't falling at the staggering rate they have throughout the young season.

ANOTHER 15 BOARDS
Standing at 7-3, you'd expect no less from Andrew McKeever than to be a dominant rebounder. That said, to have two 15+ rebound games through just seven total contests might deserve an even more complimentary term than just "dominant". The Livermore native joins a list of Gael greats that include Omar Samhan, Jock Landale and Diamon Simpson as Gaels with multiple 15+ rebound games in their career. He is averaging 11.1 boards per game, leading the West Coast Conference, and ranks him in the top-20 in the country.

THE STREAK CONTINUES
Joshua Dent remained perfect at the stripe for the season, knocking down all six of his attempts tonight. The sophomore out of Wollongong, Australia now sits at 28-28 for the season. He is now just four consecutive makes away from breaking a 78 year old Saint Mary's record for most consecutive free throw makes by a single player, held by Dan Galvin and set way back in 1947-48. Dent has led the Gaels to an extremely solid 79.9% free throw clip from year, with fellow Gaels Mikey Lewis (25-26), Rory Hawke (9-10), Tony Duckett (7-8), and Liam Campbell (3-3) also majorly contributing to that cause.

SEVEN AND OH…
Saint Mary's is now 7-0 for the second straight season, the fourth time under Coach Bennett's tutelage and the seventh time in program history. The program record for best start in a season is nine straight victories. The Gaels achieved that number in the 2013-14 campaign, under Bennett, and in the the 1988-89 season, when they made their second ever NCAA Tournament Appearance.

COACHES CORNER

UP NEXT
The Gaels will move onto the Battle 4 Atlantis Semifinals, where they will take on Virginia Tech tomorrow at 2:30 PM EST / 11:30 AM PST. Virginia Tech moved to 6-0 today after a narrow 66-64 win over Colorado State.

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#GaelsRise