PORTLAND, Ore. – After trailing by three at halftime, the Saints locked down defensively, holding Concordia to only 21 second half points to pull away a 71-58 road victory, extending their win streak to eight on Thursday night.
 
Saint Martin's (18-5, 11-4) shot nearly 51 percent from the field while limiting Concordia (4-19, 0-15) to 34 percent shooting in the second half, to outscoring them by 16 to clinch the Saints' eight straight GNAC victory, the third longest of the conference this year.
 
This was a tough game," said head coach Alex Pribble. "It was great to see our guys make some adjustments and pull out the win on the road. We had a lot of guys that were asked to do some different things tonight, and our team learned from mistakes, improved throughout the game, and got the road win."
 
A 3-pointer by Rhett Baerlocher and baskets by Matt Dahlen provided early offense for Saint Martin's, giving SMU a 11-8 lead with 16:34 left in the first half. The Cavaliers quickly responded, going on a 11-2 run over the next four minutes to the a 19-13 lead.
 
Concordia continue to attack the Saints, growing their lead to as many as nine in the first half after back-to-back 3-pointers. SMU responded, first with a 3-pointer by Jared Mathews, followed by baskets from Baerlocher, Tavian Henderson, and EJ Boyce. Within three minutes, Saint Martin's had nearly erased a nine-point into a one-point CU lead. Concordia finished the half with a layup and carried a 37-34 lead into the locker room.
 
Jordan Kitchen and Baerlocher started the Saints off in the second half, and after a layup by Michael Painter, with 15:06 left, SMU once again led 40-39. The Cavaliers trimmed the lead to one once again in the following minutes; however, they were never able to retake the lead. Baskets by Boyce and Henderson allowed the Saints to grow their lead to 46-41 with 13:12 remaining.
 
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Boyce extended SMU's lead out to nine with only 7:50 left in the game. Concordia refused to back down, closing the game to six points in the final minutes before SMU ended the game on a 9-2 run to seal the 71-58 victory.
 
"Michael Painter was huge for us tonight," said Pribble. "He's had a great week of practices, and he was prepared when his number was called tonight. He really sparked us, and we needed him. He did a great job."
 
Baerlocher led all Saints with 17 points, and led the game with nine rebounds, in 36 minutes of action. Boyce was the other Saint to reach double-digits, ending with 13 points and three made 3-pointers. Kitchen and Dahlen each added seven points while BJ Standley made his first career start. Mathews and Henderson came off the bench and combined for 17 points and nine rebounds. Painter added seven points and three rebounds in 21 minutes of action.
 
As a team, Saint Martin's shot 27-for-53 (50.9 percent) from the field, 7-for-21 (33.3 percent) beyond the arc, and 10-for-14 (71.4 percent) at the free throw line. The Saints recorded 33 rebounds, 13 assists on 14 turnovers, along with six steals and two blocks.
 
"We've earned ourselves a big opportunity on Saturday," Pribble said. "WOU is a legitimate national championship contender, and it will be fun to see how our guys respond to that type of challenge on the road."
 
The Saints travel further south to face No. 5 Western Oregon on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. with live stats and video links available on smusaints.com.