SEATTLE – Saint Martin's went 17 years without a win at Seattle Pacific; however, under head coach Alex Pribble, the Saints earned their second straight road victory over SPU with an 80-73 performance, fueled by Luke Chavez's 27 points and EJ Boyce 14 second half points on Tuesday.
 
No win is easy inside the GNAC, and the Saints (12-5, 5-4) grinded all 40 minutes against Seattle Pacific (10-6, 5-4) to pull out the victory. The Falcons never found an answer for Chavez and Boyce knocked down clutch 3-pointers to seal the game in the closing minutes.

"Really proud of these guys," said Pribble. "They played hard, dug themselves out of an early hole, and found a way to beat a very good team on the road."
 
Seattle Pacific took the early 9-4 lead going into the first media timeout and extended their lead out to as many as seven. Baskets by Rhett Baerlocher and Luke Chavez began to SMU's offense going and trimmed the score to 15-11 with 12:09 remaining. SPU's lead grew back to 20-13 before a basket by Chavez and a transition 3-pointer by EJ Boyce pulled the Saints to within one possession at the 9:23 mark. A steal and fastbreak dunk for Jordan Kitchen tied the game at 20-20.
 
The Saints' run extended out to 11-3 and resulted in SMU's first lead of the game at 24-23. Baskets by Chavez and Tavian Henderson and a pair of free throws by Cameron Chatwin extended the Saints' lead out to 32-29 with 4:36 remaining in the first half.
 
Both sides traded baskets down the stretch, with Seattle Pacific tying the game at 36-36. In the final seconds, the Saints came up with a defensive stop, and with the clock expiring, Chavez pulled up, and knocked down the basket to put SMU up 38-36 going into halftime.
 
Both sides traded baskets in the opening minutes of the second half, with SPU even taking a one-point lead. However, after a quiet first half for the Saints' second leading scorer, Boyce, came alive with back-to-back 3-pointers to regain the lead at 46-43 with 16:13 left. The Saints began to gain momentum with their defensive stops, forcing multiple turnovers, leading to back-to-back dunks for Henderson and the Saints' largest lead at 52-45 with 12:20 remaining.
 
Seattle Pacific attempted to make runs at Saint Martin's, cutting the lead to four multiple times over the next five minutes. However, the Saints found ways to respond, including a 3-pointer by Baerlocher to keep the lead at seven with 7:32 remaining. The Falcons rattled off five quick points, but once again, Boyce and BJ Standley came up with clutch 3-pointers to shift the momentum back to SMU.
 
Both sides battled into the final minutes of action, with Saint Martin's holding a 67-63 lead before Chavez connected on a buzzer beater to stretch the lead to six. Seattle Pacific carved the lead down to one possession, but with one minute remaining, Boyce calmly knocked down his fifth 3-pointer of the night. The Saints sealed the 80-73 victory at the line, with Boyce and Chavez hitting a pair of free throws in the closing seconds.

"Our guys are starting to understand that they have to be focused for all 40 minutes, and good things can happen," Pribble stated. 
 
Chavez nearly reached his season-high, finishing at 27 points, on 10-for-19 shooting, along with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Boyce followed up with 17 points, 14 coming in the second half, hitting five 3-pointers, in 34 minutes of action. Kitchen and Baerlocher added eight points each along with Standley and Henderson's eights each off the bench. Matt Dahlen collected a season-high four blocks.
 
Saint Martin's shot 27-for-62 (43.5 percent) from the floor, 9-for-25 (36.0 percent) beyond the arc, and 17-for-24 (70.1 percent) at the free throw line. The Saints recorded 38 rebounds, 10 assists on nine turnovers, along with nine steals and five blocks.

"Luke Chavez was special tonight," Pribble said. "He hit some huge shots down the stretch, along with EJ Boyce to get the win. Matt Dahlen was also really dynamic defensively. With that said, we had great contributions across the board. I'm really proud of this group. Now we need to recharge and get ready for MSUB on Saturday."
 
The Saints return home on Saturday Jan 20 to host Montana State Billings at 7:30 p.m. as a part of Pack the Pavilion. Live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com, along with a radio broadcast by the Bryant and Clark Sports Connection.