Kroner's Corner Season 2: A Reflection on 24 Consecutive Home Victories

Photo by: SMC Athletics / Piper Westrom

Kroner's Corner Season 2: A Reflection on 24 Consecutive Home Victories

2/18/2026 4:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Randy Bennett genuinely was surprised when he learned that his Gaels had set a school record for consecutive home wins – 24 – with their 88-60 rout of Pepperdine last Wednesday night.

"I didn't even know. Our team didn't know. That's great," the SMC head coach said.

Though Bennett had been unaware that Saint Mary's hadn't lost at UCU Pavilion since a 75-68 decision against Utah State on Dec. 22, 2024, he quickly provided an explanation for the Gaels' extended success inside their facility with a capacity of 3,500 fans.

"This is a tough place to play," Bennett said. "Our fans – and our students, in particular – they know what it's supposed to look like. They've seen some big-time games here. So, they know what it's supposed to look like, and they get excited about it."

Fans appreciate and help create an enjoyable atmosphere at UCU Pavilion, but Bennett knows the bottom line for enjoyment exists on the scoreboard.

"Yeah, (fans) are not coming if you're not winning," he said.

The Gaels have beaten five teams twice in the streak: Oregon State, Pepperdine, Portland, USF and Washington State. Their largest margin of victory during the streak was 54 (96-42 over Division-II UC Merced) and the smallest margin of victory was four (62-58 over Gonzaga).
Here's a rundown of each of those 24 victories:
1.   12/28/24, SMC 70, Pacific 60: The Gaels won their conference opener as three players – Luke Barrett (20 points, 10 rebounds), Mitchell Saxen (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Paulius Murauskas (10 points, 13 boards) – had double-doubles and Augustas Marciulionis (9 points, 11 assists) finished one point shy of a double-double.

2.  1/2/25, SMC 71, Pepperdine 41: Murauskas (12 rebounds) and Saxen (11) helped the Gaels own a 50-32 edge on the glass. The Waves went 2-for-16 from beyond the arc.

3.  1/7/25, SMC 81, LMU 56: Marciulionis went 4-for-5 from long range en route to a game-high 23 points and Barrett contributed another double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds).

4.  1/23/25, SMC 71, USF 51: Murauskas poured in 24 points as the Gaels hit on 32 of 52 (61.5%) from the floor. The Dons missed all 10 of their second-half 3-point tries.

5.  2/1/25, SMC 62, Gonzaga 58: With the game tied 58-58 with 50 seconds left, Harry Wessels went 2-for-2 at the line to put SMC ahead to stay. On the ensuing possession, Wessels made a key block on the Zags' Graham Ike. Mikey Lewis came off the bench to lead the Gaels with 16 points.

6.  2/11/25, SMC 73, Santa Clara 64: Another game tied 58-58, this time with just more than five minutes left before Barrett hit a trey to ignite a 9-0 SMC run and the Gaels held off the Broncos. Marciulionis had 24 points and six assists.

7.   2/15/25, SMC 77, WSU 56: Murauskas (30 points, 10 rebounds) and Marciulionis (16 points, 7 assists) thrived on Lithuania Night, which honored their home country.

8.  2/19/25, SMC 79, Portland 66: Strong performances again by Murauskas (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Marciulionis (16 points, 9 assists) enabled the Gaels to put away the Pilots.

9. 3/1/25, SMC 74, OSU 64: The Gaels' three seniors put together memorable nights in their final game at UCU Pavilion. Marciulionis had 25 points and seven assists. Barrett (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Saxen (12 points, 11 boards) each had a double-double.

10.  11/3/25, SMC 84, St. Thomas 58: Lewis went 4-for-7 from beyond the arc as he scored a team-high 23 points and Josh Dent made his debut as the starting point guard with 18 points, six assists and no turnovers.

11.  11/7/25, SMC 87, Chattanooga 66: Lewis was 4-for-6 from deep and 10-for-10 at the foul line as he scored a game- and career-high 28 points. Murauskas and redshirt sophomore center Andrew McKeever combined to go 14-for-17 from the floor and each man pulled down eight boards.

12.  11/11/25, SMC 90, Ohio 60: Redshirt freshman swingman Liam Campbell stole the show as he came off the bench to score 20 points in 20 minutes, going 8-for-10 from the field.

13.  11/14/25, SMC 80, North Texas 49: The Gaels bolted to a 47-17 halftime edge. Murauskas had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds as SMC dominated the glass, 58-27.

14.  11/19/25, SMC 85, Arkansas State 72: McKeever put together an outstanding line – 16 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocks – and Murauskas had a game-high 24 points and nine boards.

15.  11/22/25, SMC 96, UC Merced 42: Dent hit five treys on his way to 24 points as the Gaels closed out their season-opening six-game homestand by blitzing the Bobcats.

16.  12/19/25, SMC 88, Florida Atlantic 75: In their first home game in nearly a month, the Gaels got a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) from McKeever, a near double-double (21 points, 9 boards) from Murauskas and a stat-sheet-stuffing performance (24 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) from Dent to knock off the Owls.

17.  12/22/25, SMC 63, Northern Iowa 58: In a matchup that wasn't aesthetically pleasing but provided plenty of drama, Murauskas hit the tying and go-ahead free throws with 31 seconds left and Lewis went 4-for-4 at the line in the final 11 seconds as the Gaels edged the Panthers.

18.  1/2/26, SMC 78, Portland 57: Murauskas had 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists as the Gaels dusted the Pilots. Redshirt freshman Rory Hawke gave SMC a boost with 11 points.

19.  1/4/26, SMC 93, Seattle 76: The Gaels trailed by five at halftime and didn't take the lead for good until Murauskas' three-point play with 12:05 remaining. He had 30 points and a career-high-tying 15 rebounds. Freshman Dillan Shaw went 6-for-8 from beyond the arc as he finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

20.  1/10/26, SMC 88, WSU 82: The Gaels led by 18 late in the first half but the Cougars cut the margin to three with 7-1/2 minutes to go before SMC prevailed. Dent (26), Murauskas (24) and Lewis (20) combined for 70 points. SMC set the program record for most free throws made (20) in a game without a miss.

21.  1/21/26, SMC 81, OSU 51: Dent had 16 points and 11 assists to spark the Gaels' offense and the defense held the Beavers to 14-for-49 (28.6%) from the floor, including 2-for-16 from long range.

22.  2/4/26, SMC 87, USD 60: The Gaels scored the game's first 10 points and did not trail. Shaw (14 points, 10 rebounds) and McKeever (12 points, 12 boards) each had double-doubles.

23.  2/7/26, SMC 79, USF 54: McKeever (14 points, 14 rebounds) and Dent (13 points, 11 assists) had double-doubles and Murauskas (20 points, 8 rebounds) and Shaw (11 points, 9 boards) came close to double-doubles as the Gaels drubbed the Dons.

24.  2/11/26, SMC 88, Pepperdine 60: Wessels grabbed 11 rebounds as the Gaels enjoyed a 51-30 advantage on the glass. Dent again dished out 11 assists.

Steve Kroner has covered Bay Area sports for more than four decades, mainly at KPIX-TV (Channel 5) and the San Francisco Chronicle. He is in his second season working as an analyst alongside Brian Brownfield on SMC men's basketball telecasts on ESPN+.