CLEVELAND, OH — In signature Saint Mary's (29-5) fashion, the Gaels erased a double-digit second half deficit with a combination of tenacious defensed and ferocious rebounding to defeat the Vanderbilt Commodores (20-13) 59-56, in Friday's opening round game of the 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Saint Mary's held Vanderbilt to a season low 56 points, giving the Commodores no breathing room on the offensive end to generate open looks. Saint Mary's will now move onto the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last four years, and the sixth time in program history.
Vanderbilt jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in this one, before Luke Barrett near single handedly gave the Gaels their first lead at 5-4, burying a three and a putback layup. Unfortunately for the Gaels, that was one of only two first half threes (the other belonging to Mitchell Saxen, his first since his freshman year) and their only offensive rebound of the half. The turnover bug that plagued the Gaels in their last contest in Vegas reared its head again, with Saint Mary's coughing the ball up six times in the first half resulting in 10 Vanderbilt points, but the Gaels physical defense was able to not let things get out of hand. After a steal by Barrett preventing Vanderbilt from firing off the final shot of the half, the Gaels found themselves down 29-22 at the break. Luke Barrett led the way for the Gaels with seven points, while Mitchell Saxen chipped in six and five boards. The Gaels were able to win the rebounding battle in the first half, 17-15, but had just one offensive board resulting in two second chance points. Despite their smaller size, Vanderbilt's ability to run in transition gave them an 18-12 lead on points in the paint.
Paulius Murauskas would hit the first basket of the second half, cutting the deficit to five, but the Gaels would make just one of their next ten shots, while Vaderbilt connected on three of their first five field goal attempts of the second frame to extend their lead out to 12, 39-27 with 16:20 remaining. From that point, however, the Gaels put the defensive clamps on, recording stop after stop, allowing the offense to find their footing. Things got started with a 6-0 run generated by Jordan Ross and Mitchell Saxen to cut the deficit in half with 13:10 to play. After a split pair of free throws, Ross would can the first three pointer of the second half for the Gaels to bring the score to 40-36 with 12:33 to go. The Ross and Saxen show would continue all the way to the 8:03 mark when another Ross triple would tie things up at 43 all. Vanderbilt would take their final lead at 45-43 with 7:19 left, but an Augustas Marciulionis three would give the Gaels their first lead since 5-4 in the first. With 4:51, Vanderbilt would knot things up again at 50-50, but the three point barrage continued for Saint Mary's as Marciulionis and Luke Barrett buried back to back perimeter jumpers to give the Gaels a six point lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game. Up 59-56 in the final possession of the game, the Commodores got a pair of three point jumpers off, but the Gaels stifling defense made sure those shots were ultra contested, with neither going down and ending the game with a Saint Mary's victory. Jordan Ross did not leave the floor in half number two, finishing the frame with 13 points on 5-8 shooting, including 2-2 from three, and a team-high three assists. Despite battling foul trouble, Augustas Marciulionis chipped in eight second half points, also burying two triples. Mitchell Saxen was a force to be reckoned with down low, going for seven points and seven boards in the second frame. The Gaels turned the ball over just three times in the second half, and shook off a slow start from the perimeter to knock down five of nine second half threes. Nine offensive boards led to eight Gael second chance points, giving the offense multiple attempts on many possessions to find their footing.
It was a well balanced offensive attack from the Gaels, who had four scorers in double figures. Jordan Ross led the way with 15 points on 6-11 shooting and 2-4 shooting from three. Ross also led the team with three assists and a career-high three blocked shots. The 15 points were the most by Ross since 11/29/24 when he scored his career best mark of 19 vs Arizona State. Not far behind Ross in scoring was Augustas Marciulions, dropping 14 points while ripping down eight boards, a new season-high and one off of his career-high. Rounding out the group, Mitchell Saxen and Luke Barrett both recorded 12 point double-doubles, with Saxen ripping down 11 boards, and Barrett bringing down 10. It was their 10th and seventh double-doubles of the season respectively. Saint Mary's and Vanderbilt both finished with the exact same 22-55 clip from the field, with the Commodores taking and making just one more three than the Gaels, but it was once again the Gaels defense and rebounding that won them the game, limiting the Commodores to a season low in points and outrebounding them by 13 in the win.
IN MARCH, CALL US THE COMEBACK KIDS
Heading into this one, Saint Mary's had only trailed at halftime four times this season, going 1-3 in those efforts. That said, tonight, the Gaels overcame multiple double-digit deficits and a seven point halftime deficit to earn tonight's win. Down 12 with 16:20 remaining in the game, the Gaels closed things out on a 32-17 run to earn the victory.
JORDAN ROSS LOVES MARCH MADNESS
In last year's tournament, Jordan Ross had a bit of a coming out party against Grand Canyon. While only playing 10 minutes, Ross connected on both of his field goal attempts, one to bring the Gaels within one points and one to give the Gaels the lead. Shouldering a bigger load now in his sophomore season, Ross continued to shine under the brightest lights, leading the Gaels with 15 points and three assists. In two career March Madness games, Ross is shooting 8-13 from the field and 2-4 from three, and looks to continue to lead the Gaels now making his first appearance in the round of 32.
AGE OVER BEAUTY
In a gritty physical matchup in postseason basketball, the Gaels were able to turn to their seniors, Augustas Marciulionis, Luke Barrett and Mitchell Saxen, each now with four NCAA tournament appearances under their belts, to steady the ship in stormy weather. Things got started with Barrett, scoring seven of the first nine points for Saint Mary's. In the middle part of the game, it was Saxen doing the dirty work, pairing up with Jordan Ross for a 14-4 run to go from down 10 to tied. Then, Augustas Marciulionis served in the role of closer, burying two threes and two free throws over the final seven minutes, helping the Gaels gain the lead and thwart any comeback attempts from Vandy late.
UP NEXT
The Gaels move onto the Round of 32 and will face second seeded Alabama on Sunday. Game time is currently TBD on Sunday in Cleveland.
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