RIVERSIDE, Calif – Saint Martin's scored the first 17 points of the game en route to the 77-67 victory over Academy of Act to begin the Cal Baptist Thanksgiving Classic.
 
The Saints' (4-1) defense prevented Academy of Art (0-5) for scoring in the field for the first seven minutes and an opening 41-10 run fueled the Saints' third straight victory.
 
EJ Boyce started the Saints offense with a 3-pointer, followed by baskets from Matt Dahlen and Luke Chavez. Saint Martin's scored the first 17 points of the game with five different Saints contributing to the run.
 
Academy of Art converted three free throws before BJ Standley knocked down a 3-pointer to cap off the 20-3 opening run with 13:06 left in the first half.
 
The Urban Knights scored their first field goal of the half at the 11:06 mark. The Saints responded with back-to-back 3-pointers by Standley and Chavez jumpstarted a 13-2 run.
 
Saint Martin's lead extended all the way to 41-10 before Art U closed out the half on a 15-2 run to trim the score to 43-25 going into the break.
 
Academy of Art continued their run into the second half, closing the Saints' lead to 43-31, on the 21-2 run. Jordan Kitchen's jumper and 3-pointers by Chavez and Baerlocher quickly extended the Saints' lead back to 17.
 
The Saints and the Urban Knights traded baskets throughout the second half, with the Saints' lead growing to as large as 21 (59-41) with 9:55 remaining. The Urban Knights' offense attempted to make a dent in the score in the remaining minutes; however, the Saints stood strong and closed out the 77-67 victory.

"We got off to a great start tonight. We were well prepared and the guys were focused," said head coach Alex Pribble. "They shared the ball very well and really dug in on the defensive end. Our focus has been on attention to detail defensively, and I think the guys showed stretches of great defense. We still have a lot of work to do on that end of the court, but it's great to see the progress we're making."
 
Leading the way was Chavez with 26 points, a career-high, with four rebounds and three steals. Boyce was the only other Saint to score in double-digits with 13 points, while Tavian Henderson added eight points, and a team-leading nine rebounds and five assists, both career-highs.
 
As a whole, Saint Martin's shot 26-for-70 (37.1 percent) from the field, 12-for-34 (35.3 percent) beyond the arc and 13-of-16 (81.3 percent) at the line. The Saints recorded 43 rebounds, 17 assists on 22 turnovers, with four blocks and six steals.

"Luke gave us a great game tonight, but we got great contributions from a lot of guys," Pribble said. "We played 12 guys and they all contributed. We will have our toughest test of the year tomorrow night. Cap Baptist is well coached, talented, and have good reason for being a top 10 team in the nation. I'm excited to see our guys prepare for this type of challenge."
 
Saint Martin's will face-off against host school Cal Baptist on Saturday, November 25 at 7:00 p.m. Live stats and video links available on smusaints.com.