Box Score LACEY, Wash. – Despite a poor first half, Saint Martin's shot better than 65-percent in the second half and outscored Alaska by 25 to rally for a 70-53 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball win Thursday at Marcus Pavilion.
“We played great the first half, especially defensively holding them to 21 points,” head coach
Mick Durham said. “We couldn't sustain it. We turned the ball over 12 times the second half and that was difference. They were hitting shots but at some point you have to match them offensively.”
Brok Pendleton led four Saints (8-9, 4-4 GNAC) in double figures with a game-high 22 points to go with three blocks.
Jeremy Green had a solid stat line with 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four blocks and four steals, while
Roger O'Neill and
Brady Bomber also contributed 16 and 13 points, respectively. Bomber also dished out a game-high six assists.
SMU shot 43-percent (25-58) for the game, including 65-percent (17-26) in the second half to outscore the Nanooks (4-14, 1-7 GNAC) 49-24 in the final 20 minutes.
Alaska was led by sophomore
Sergej Pucar (Banja Luka, Serbia/Jacksonville College), who posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 boards. Freshman
Ben Teer (Machias, Maine/Lee Academy) scored a career-high 14 points in only his second start of the year, while sophomore
Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/Panola College) added 10 points. Junior
Carthal McDonald (Los Angeles, Calif//Compton CC) brought down a career-best 10 rebounds as well in his first start.
“[Ben] was great,” Durham said. “He had an opportunity and we needed him to take advantage of it. He showed up and played a heck of a ballgame for us. There's no question that was a positive in that he only played one minute in the last game.”
The Nanooks shot 40-percent (21-52) for the game and won the rebounding war 38-30, but made only four triples on nine attempts and seven free throws on 11 tries. They also turned the ball over 17 times, while the Saints gave the ball away only four times. SMU outscored UAF 21-8 off turnovers in the game.
The 'Nooks jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, but seven straight by Saint Martin's closed the gap to one with 8:19 to go in the first. The teams went back-and-forth, but Alaska ended the frame with 9-2 surge to grab a 29-21 lead heading into the locker room.
It certainly was a tale of two halves as the Saints quickly turned it their way after using 16-4 run in the opening 5:36 of the second to take the lead at 37-33. The home team broke the game open they took their 39-38 advantage and turned it into a 52-38 lead with 13 straight in a matter of 2:59. The 'Nooks never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Alaska heads to Monmouth, Ore., for a Saturday matinee at Western Oregon, which lost 66-55 to visiting Alaska Anchorage earlier tonight. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. Pacific, noon local time.
