MBB | Gaels Break Single Game Three Point Program Record in 105-64 Offensive Onslaught vs. North Dakota State

Wednesday, November 4

Moraga, CA

7:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

2-0,0-0WCC

105

North Dakota State

1-1,0-0Summit League

Team	1	2	F
North Dakota St.	26	38	64
Saint Mary's (CA)	45	60	105

Joshua Dent: 17 pts (6-7 FG, 5-6 3pt) 6 ast 1 to

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

11/4/2026 11:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights

MORAGA, Calif. — While light rain has started to fall here in the late autumn in Moraga, there was a torrential down pour of three pointers inside UCU Pavilion Wednesday evening, as the Gaels buried a program-record 20 en route to a 105-64 victory over North Dakota State. The game marked the first time in nearly two years that the Gaels have broken the century mark, as Mickey McConnell's first year squad demonstrated their offensive fire power from start to finish against the Bison.

Five different players reached double-figures in the 41 point victory, led by a 17 point effort from Joshua Dent. The Wollongong, Australia native went a stellar 6-7 from the field, burying five of six three point attempts, and also dishing out six assists with just one turnover. Fellow Aussie Rory Hawke was even more efficient, knocking down all six of his field goal attempts, including three triples, for a career best 15 points. True freshman Darius Bivins reached double figures for the second consecutive game in his career, scoring 12 and adding six assists and just one turnover, while Vangelis Zougris once again did not miss from the field, scoring 11 points on a perfect 5-5 clip. Rounding out the double-digit scorers was Jeremy Dent-Smith, who joined Bivins as the second Gael in double figures off the bench. Mantas Juzenas came up just shy of his second consecutive double-double, but finished with nine points to go along with a team leading 11 boards and seven assists (one turnover).

HOW IT HAPPENED
Joshua Dent canned the first score of the game, a corner triple that was a sign of great things to come all night long for the Gaels. After North Dakota State took their first and only lead of the game at 5-3, the Gaels would erase it just 19 seconds later, and go on a 10-0 run that would give them an incredible wave of momentum that would never let up. Saint Mary's would balloon its lead all the way up to 22 points with 35 ticks remaining in the half before the Bison would go on a 5-0 run of their own. This run slightly quieted the raucous crowd, but they were quickly brought back to their feet, as Darius Bivins went coast-to-coast with five second remaining in the half to lay in a finger roll at the buzzer, taking a 45-26 lead into the break. The buzzer-beating bucket gave Bivins 10 first half points, two shy of the Gaels' leader, Dent, with 12.

As good as the Gaels' offense was in the first half (59.3% FG, 56.3% 3pt), it was unstoppable in the second frame, as Saint Mary's exploded for 60 points on 74.2% shooting and 73.3% three point shooting. Saint Mary's opened up the half on a 14-2 run to take its first 30 point lead in the game, and got the lead north of 40 points on a Trent MacLean triple with 4:47 to go. When the dust all settled, not one Gael played more than nine minutes in the second half, with all 14 active players seeing the floor and 11 of them scoring en route to the 105-64 victory.

GAME NOTES

Saint Mary's broke the single game three point record, with 20 made tonight against North Dakota State. The previous record of 19 was set back on Dec. 14, 2015 against Cal Poly.
The Gaels made 39 field goals, their most since Feb. 15, 2024 vs. Pepperdine, shot better than 65% from the field for the first time since Nov. 24, 2019 vs. Sonoma State, shot north of 60% from three for the first time since Feb. 15, 2024 vs. Pepperdine and dished out more than 30 assists for the first time since Nov. 23, 2010 Chicago State.
This is the first time that the Gaels have scored 90 or more points in back-to-back games since December of 2015, when they did so against Cal Poly (Dec. 14) and Southern Utah (Dec. 16).
105 points marks the most scored by the Gaels since dropping 107 in the 2023-24 season opener against Stanislaus State.
All 14 active Gaels saw the floor with 12 different Gaels scoring.
Joshua Dent led all scorers with 17, shooting 80% or better from the field for the third time in his career.
Rory Hawke (15 points) and Vangelis Zougris (11 points) combined to shoot a perfect 11-11 from the field. This is the first documented time in program history that two different Gaels both shot 100% from the field, each with at least five makes.
Darius Bivins once again scored in double figures, as the freshman dropped 12 on 5-7 shooting. He is the first Gael true freshman since Mikey Lewis to score in double figures in each of his first two contests. The program record for consecutive double-digit scoring efforts to open a career as a freshman belongs to Matthew Dellavedova, who began his career with five straight double digit scoring games.
Mantas Juzenas came up just shy of a double-double, with nine points to go along with a team-high 11 rebounds and seven assists. The 11 boards tied his career-high, while the seven assists were a new career best.
Four Gaels, Flynn Pavely, Cooper Lewis, Trent MacLean and Sam Curvy, made their collegiate debuts, with Pavely, Lewis and MacLean all scoring their first collegiate buckets.

QUOTABLE

UP NEXT
The Gaels will leave the friendly confines of UCU Pavilion for the first time this year, heading to the Tahoe Blue Events Center for a neutral site clash with Nevada. Tip-off for that contest on Sunday, November 8, is slated for 1:30 p.m.

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