ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Behind a complete game by Luke Chavez and a season-high by Rhett Baerlocher, the Saint Martin's Saints pulled off the 71-66 victory over the Seawolves of Alaska Anchorage's on the road Thursday night.
 
Chavez ended the game with 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals while Baerlocher added 14 points and four steals as SMU (10-3, 3-2) shot nearly 52 percent from the field to power past Alaska Anchorage (7-6, 3-2) in a critical GNAC matchup.
 
"Road wins are always hard to come by," said head coach Alex Pribble. "Shots weren't falling tonight, and our guys needed to dig in on the defensive end. I thought we did a very good job of that in the second half."
 
Both sides looked evenly matched in the opening minutes of the game when Jordan Kitchen connected from deep to Saint Martin's on top 11-10 with 13:38 left in the first half. The Seawolves took the lead back on the following possession; however, Kitchen converted a layup, followed by a jumper by EJ Boyce and Chavez gave SMU a 17-12 lead. Chavez capped off the 12-2 run with a 3-pointer at the 11:05 mark and Saint Martin's leading 20-12.
 
The Seawolves began chipping away at the lead and over the course of six minutes, outscored the Saints 16-8 and tied the game with 4:38 left in the first half. UAA's run continued over the final four minutes, eventually taking the lead at 35-32 but a dunk by Tavian Henderson made it a one point game, 35-34, going into halftime.
 
The Saints jumped out in the early minutes of the second half, highlighted by 3-pointers by Baerlocher and Boyce to take a 44-37 lead with 16:13 remaining. The Saints' lead never grew past seven points, and Alaska Anchorage used back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the score to 48-47 at the 12:19 mark. The Seawolves tied the game at 48-48 and 50-50 marks, when the Saints responded with their own back-to-back 3-pointers, by Baerlocher and Chavez.
 
Both sides traded baskets and the Seawolves slowly trimmed the lead down to one possession, 63-61, with only 2:14 remaining in the game. A layup by Baerlocher and a free throw by Matt Dahlen pushed the lead out to 65-61 with 1:22 left. After a pair of Seawolves' free throws, Chavez found Boyce for the critical 3-pointer, which looked like it put the game out of reach for UAA. Matt Dahlen blocked the Seawolves' counterattack and Chavez sealed the victory at the free throw line.
 
"Credit Alaska Anchorage, they were short-handed and battled really tough," said Pribble. 'I'm glad our guys were able to stick with them and make some big plays down the stretch to get the win."
 
Chavez for the second straight game recorded at least 20 points, finishing with 23, along with tying his season-high in boards with six. Baerlocher and Boyce combined for 24 points, and four 3-pointers while Henderson added eight points, six rebounds, four assists. Kitchen came off the bench for nine points, along with Jared Mathews who ended at four points, five rebounds, and three assists.
 
Saint Martin's as a team shot 28-for-54 (51.9 percent) from the floor, 8-for-24 (33.3 percent) beyond the arc, and 7-for-10 (70.0 percent) at the free throw line. The Saints recorded 33 rebounds, 23 assists on 16 turnovers, along with seven blocks and six steals.
 
"We've got a big one coming up at Fairbanks," Pribble said. "We need to learn from this game and be prepared to another big road challenge on Saturday."
 
The Saints remain the state of Alaska, traveling to Fairbanks for their matchup with Alaska on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. PST and live stats and video links can be found on smusaints.com.