MORAGA, Calif. — The biggest event in the City by the Bay tonight, the Saint Mary's Gaels (20-4, 10-1 WCC) brought their 15 game consecutive road winning streak into War Memorial at the Sobrato Center to take on the San Francisco Dons (19-6, 9-3 WCC), unbeaten in their last 14 at home. The marquee matchup between the top two teams in the WCC lived up to the billing, coming down to the final shot, but when the dust all settled, it was the Dons who defended home court, eking out the narrow 65-64 victory. While the Gaels remain in first place in the WCC despite the loss, the Dons remain hot on their tails in second, now just 1.5 games back.
The Gaels came out of the gates hot, opening things up with a 17-9 lead through the first 7:30 of this one. Augustus Marciulionis was responsible for nine of the Gaels first 17 points, but the Dons were able to throw a counter punch of their own coming out of the second media timeout, going on an 11-2 run to knot things up at twenty, and eventually took their first lead at 28-26 with 3:30 to go in the opening frame. The Gaels stole a bit of momentum heading back into the locker room, closing the half out on an 8-1 run to take a 34-29 lead into the halftime break. Marciulionis was the unsung hero for the Gaels in the first half, scoring half of the Gaels 34 points, with three assists, four steals and no turnovers. Jordan Ross chipped in six, while Mitchell Saxen added five and six rebounds. The Gaels dominated the Dons in the paint in the first half to the tune of 26-12, and won the turnover battle 7-3, however, were only able to turn those seven Don turnovers into two points.
Saint Mary's kept things going in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, outscoring the Dons 18-12 to extend their lead to its largest at 11 points, 52-41. From that point, however, the Dons put the defensive intensity on, as they would outscore the Gaels 24-12 down the stretch. A 14-2 run would give the Dons their first lead of the second half, and would not relinquish it for the final 6:22. Down four with 21 seconds remaining, the Gaels made things interesting. Paulius Murauskas buried a three to put the score at 65-64. The Gaels fouled Carlton Linguard, who missed both free throws, and Jordan Ross ripped down the board, and kicked it into high gear up the court. Ross connected with an open Mikey Lewis who put up a three for the win, but had to rush his shot with time expiring. The shot missed short and the Dons polished off their victory. After picking up three fouls in the first half and being unable to fire off a shot, Paulius Murauskas added 12 in the second half to lead the Gaels. Mitchell Saxen didn't miss from the field in the second half, scoring nine and ripping down five boards. Augustas Marciulionis had a quiet scoring second half, but did add another four assists to just one turnover.
For the fifth time this season, Augustas Marciulionis met or surpassed the 20 point mark, scoring 20 points, while dishing out seven assists to just one turnover and coming up with four steals in a full 40 minutes of action. Mitchell Saxen scored 14 and ripped down 11 rebounds for his 23rd career double-double and his eighth this season. Paulius Murauskas rounded out the group of double-digit scorers for the Gaels, with 12 points, all in the second half. The Gaels had a season low five turnovers, but shot a season-low 13% from three in the loss.
TAKING CARE OF THE BASKETBALL
Despite the Gaels loss tonight, they turned the ball over a season low five times. This is even more impressive when considering the fact that the Dons lead the WCC in turnovers forced per game. Last time against the Gaels, the Dons forced seven turnovers, as the Gaels showed improvements in that category compared to their last meeting.
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Augustas Marciulionis entered the record book in games played for his career, appearing in his 127th, tied with Ian O'Leary and Stephen Holt for 13th most in program history. He trails only Mitchell Saxen amongst active Gaels, who has appeared in 145. With four steals tonight, Marciulionis also leapfrogged Jordan Ford and Eric Newman for career steals ranks, now ranking eighth all-time with 128. Mitchell Saxen also climbed the scoring ranks, surpassing former teammate Logan Johnson, now ranking 24th with 1216.
UP NEXT
The Gaels will have a quick turnaround, flying out to Corvallis to take on Oregon State on Saturday at 7 PM. The game will be live on ESPN2.
DON'T MISS OUT ON HOME MEN'S BASKETBALL ACTION. TICKETS ARE ON SALE HERE.
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