LACEY, Wash. - Behind a four double-digit scorers, led by Luke Chavez and Jordan Kitchen, the Saints proved to be too much for the Vulcans of Hawaii-Hilo to handle in a 87-74 victory inside a packed Marcus Pavilion.

Chavez spot over 50 percent from the field en route to a game-leading 20 points, along with Kitchen's 17-point, 11-rebound double-double to fuel the Saints' highly efficient offense.

Hawaii-Hilo (1-2) took the early edge over the Saints (2-1), leading 7-5 in the first three minutes before EJ Boyce's basket from deep and Matt Dahlen layup in the paint put SMU out front 10-7.  The Saints continued to attack under the basket, feeding the ball to Jared Mathews and Kitchen as SMU extended their lead to 17-13 at 13:19 left in the half.

Saint Martin's forced the Vulcans into early foul trouble, and made the most of it, converting their attempts at the free throw and pushing their lead to 30-18 at 7:42 left in the first half.

The Vulcans began slowly chipping away the lead, to as little as 40-35 with 2:32 left in the half. The Saints quickly responded, starting with a layup by Tavian Henderson, leading to a 3-pointer from Chavez on the following possession. Rhett Baerlocher closed out the half with a corner 3-pointer to put SMU up 48-37 heading into the locker room.

Kitchen led off the second half with a tip-in off of an offensive rebound, before Dahlen stole the ball and connected with Chavez for layup, giving SMU their largest lead of the game at 52-37 to that point. The Vulcans knocked down three baskets in the paint, part of an 8-2 run to trim the score to 54-45 with 17:09 left in the game.

The Saints answered back once again, this time going on an 11-1 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Mathews and Kitchen, and capped off by a layup by Dahlen to put SMU up 64-46 at the 13:05 mark. 

Hawaii cut the lead to single digits multiple times in the following minutes before a 14-4 run by the Saints locked up the 87-74 victory.

Chavez led the way with 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting to go along with four rebounds, four assists in nearly 40 minutes of action. Recording his second double-double of the young season, Kitchen proved to be a force with the ball, 17-points, on the glass, 11-rebounds, and at the rim with four blocks. Kitchen's 11 rebounds were five more than other player in the game. Boyce added 14 points with four rebounds and four assists in 36 minutes of action. Mathews provided a spark off the bench, with 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting and four rebounds.  

As a team, Saint Martin's shot 31-for-62 (50.0 percent) from the floor, 7-for-19 (36.8 percent) beyond the arc, and 18-for-27 (66.7 percent) at the free throw line. The Saints outrebounded the Vulcans to a tune of 37-to-28, while recording 16 assists on 10 turnovers and eight steals. SMU scored 42 points in the paint, 15 off turnovers, 20 second chance points and 21 off the bench.

The Saints get a week in between their next game, traveling to Cal State Monterey Bay on Nov 21. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. with links to game on smusaints.com.