MBB | Trio of Gaels Named First Team All-West Coast Conference, Shaw Named to the WCC All-Freshman Team

(L-R): Joshua Dent, Mikey Lewis, Paulius Murauskas, Dillan Shaw

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

MBB | Trio of Gaels Named First Team All-West Coast Conference, Shaw Named to the WCC All-Freshman Team

3/3/2026 10:01:00 AM | Men's Basketball

SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Coming off of its fourth straight West Coast Conference Regular Season Title, the Saint Mary's men's basketball program had four student-athletes earn All-West Coast Conference distinctions, with Joshua Dent, Mikey Lewis and Paulius Murauskas each earning first team honors, and Dillan Shaw being named to the WCC All-Freshman Team.

This is the fourth straight year that the Gaels have had three honorees on the first team All-WCC list, and their third time in the last four years that they've had a student-athlete recognized on the all-freshman team.

Joshua Dent burst onto the scene this season as a sophomore, filling the massive shoes left by back-to-back WCC Player of the Year Augustas Marciulionis. The Wollongong, NSW, Australia native was ready to answer the bell, finishing out the regular season as the Gaels' third-leading scorer (13.3 PPG), while leading the team with 174 assists and 50 steals. Dent showed a tremendous ability to score from beyond the arc, burying 57 three pointers, the second most on the team, at a 40.4% clip. He also converted 91.8% of his foul shots in the regular season. Dent played a full 40 minutes on 12 different occasions this year, including in his most outstanding performance of the year against Washington State on January 10, when he scored a career-high 26 points on 6-for-9 shooting from deep. Dent also recorded his first three collegiate double-doubles, going for 16 points and 11 assists against Oregon State (Jan. 21), 13 points and 11 assists against San Francisco (Feb. 7) and 12 points and 11 assists against Pepperdine (Feb. 11). He currently leads the WCC in minutes played per game (36:07) and free throw percentage (91.8%), while ranking third in the conference in assists (174), assists per game (5.6) and steals per game (1.61).

Defending WCC Sixth Man of the Year Mikey Lewis stepped into a starting role in 2025-26 and found his stride as an elite scoring guard. The Gaels' second-leading scorer at 13.9 points per game, Lewis buried 64 triples to pace Saint Mary's. The Oakland native also saw his assist numbers jump in year two, averaging more than two per game (2.2). Currently riding a career-best eight game double-digit scoring streak, Lewis is coming off of the most impactful week of his Gaels career. Needing two wins to secure the Gaels' fourth straight West Coast Conference Regular Season Title, the sophomore dropped 21 against Santa Clara to go along with a career-high seven assists and four steals. He followed that up with a career-high 31 points on seven made threes against then ninth-ranked Gonzaga to help the Gaels add their 11th WCC Regular Season Trophy to the case.

The Gaels' lone returning starter from 2024-25 and defending West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year Paulius Murauskas was Saint Mary's' unsung offensive leader all year long, and earned his second first team All-WCC nod. The first Gael to crack the 500-point mark since Logan Johnson, Murauskas leads the WCC with 576 points scored. Hailing from Kaunas, Lithuania, Murauskas logged seven double-doubles this year, tied for the third most in the WCC, including a signature 32-point, 15-rebound performance on the road at Pacific on Feb. 14, his 22nd birthday. In that game, Paulius also scored his 1000th collegiate point. He currently sits 999 points for his Saint Mary's career. Murauskas did a lot of damage from the free throw line this year, knocking down a WCC-best 160 at a stellar 83.3% clip.

Rounding out the group, Dillan Shaw became the 11th Gael to earn WCC-All Freshman honors since the inception of the award in 2004. A swiss army knife at the small forward position, Shaw took over for fifth-year player Luke Barrett, who graduated in 2025, and the Gaels did not miss a beat. The Northridge native started the final 20 games of the season for the Gaels, including all 18 conference contests, and averaged nearly eight points per game, while shooting 42.6% from three. Shaw also ripped down 5.3 rebounds per game, while finishing second on the team with 28 steals, and third with 19 blocks. He dropped a career-high 20 points against Seattle U on January 4, burying 6-of-8 threes. He also logged his first two double-doubles, going for 14 points and 10 rebounds against San Diego (Feb. 4) and 11 points and 14 rebounds against Santa Clara (Feb. 25).

With three first team all-conference selections this year, the Gaels tied with Santa Clara for most in the WCC. This core group will look to lead the Gaels to a West Coast Conference Tournament Title, looking for the fourth time in program history in which Saint Mary's has captured both the regular season and tournament title.

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