Lacey, WA – Saint Martin's won their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference game of the year in an exciting, triple overtime, 94-86 victory over Western Washington University Thursday night at the Marcus Pavilion.

SMU scored the first seven points of the third overtime to take an 82-75 and control the rest of the period. Western cut it to four, 84-80, with 1:48 to play but Ryan Votaw sank a three to put it back at seven.  The Saints hit seven of eight free throws to close out the game.

“I was really proud of our guys; they kept their composure going into overtime. It was a great, hard fought battle,” said head coach Keith Cooper.  

Saint Martin's shot 80.6 percent from the line (25-31); going 18-for-21 in overtime, while the Vikings posted just a 64.3 percent (18-28) clip on free throws.

Western mounted a solid comeback in regulation to force the extra periods. Harold McAllister hit an off-balance three with 7.9 seconds left to cap a 10-4 run by WWU and send the game into overtime.

Neither team led by more than two in the first overtime period and sent it into number two. Western built up a six point advantage in the second OT. Blake Poole and Jeremy Green then made four consecutive free throws to put the Saints within two at the 2:05 mark but a free throw from Andrew Ready put the margin back at three. With just 18 seconds left to play Poole sank his first 3-pointer of the season from deep in the corner to tie it at 75-75.

“We knew how good they were but we expected to come out with a win. We made enough of the plays that we needed to down the stretch. Things went back and forth but we stayed even keel and got the job done,” said Roger O'Neill.

The Saints are now 11-1 on the season, 6-0 at home. Western, who was ranked No. 14 in this week's NCAA DII poll, fell to 13-2.

“This win proves that we are working hard and it's paying off,” said Poole. “We've had guys come up big and fill shoes for us where we needed them.”

Poole finished with a game-high 30 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and three steals. Jeremy Green added 22 points and Galen Squiers scored 14. O'Neill tallied 11 points for the Saints.

“Roger and Brady, as freshman, really stepped up. For Brady to play 52 minutes and have no turnovers was outstanding; he did a great job leading the team. Galen did a tremendous job guarding Mo Anderson and that really set the tone for the rest of our defense,” said Cooper.

Western Washington was led by Derrick Webb with 26 points and Zach Bruce with 20. Anderson, who is averaging 12.7 points per game for the Vikings, was just 2-of-14 from the field in the game.

The Saints now hit the road as they get set to take on Seattle Pacific this Saturday at the Brougham Pavilion.