BILLINGS, Mont. – In their fourth game, third on the road, in seven days, the 13th-ranked Saints had to erase two double-digit leads by Montana State Billings to cap off the four win week. Luke Chavez, EJ Boyce, and Chandler Redix combined for 58 of the Saints' 76 points, and the Saints left Montana with a 76-74 victory to improve to 16-2 overall and 9-1 in GNAC.
 
Trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half, and 13 in the second half, Saint Martin's turned to its' playmakers outside to swing the momentum back. Launching 40 3-pointers in the game as a team, the Saints used the long ball, and 15 offensive rebounds to pull themselves back. Chavez led all scorers with 25 points, followed by Boyce with 17 and Redix at 16. SMU rallied behind an 18-3 run in the first half, and a 17-4 stretch in the second half to pull off the road victory.

"This is a game that I won't forget for a while," exclaimed head coach Alex Pribble. "This was an extremely difficult part of the schedule, playing four games in eight days, with three on the road. That adversity got to us early in this game, but they didn't make any excuses and they found a way to fight back into it. We relied on leadership from our seniors."
 
The Yellowjackets hopped on the Saints in the early goings, as Brendan Howard and Zharon Richmond led the charge. MSUB used a 25-7 run over the course of 12 minutes to open up a 33-15 lead. The Saints, needing a response, turned to its' senior leaders.
 
Luke Chavez and EJ Boyce, carried the load, scoring 24 of the Saints' 36 points, and did so with the long ball. The two guards combined for six 3-pointers, while Rhett Baerlocher knocked down two clutch 3-pointers, to pull SMU back into the game before half. An 18-point lead was erased in the matter of five minutes. Montana State Billings converted two field goals before the break to take a 40-36 lead into the locker rooms.
 
MSUB continued their momentum in the first minutes of the second half, extending their lead back to double-digits. After a made 3-pointer by Chavez in the first minute, the Saints went cold from beyond the arc. SMU missed 10 straight 3-pointers until Boyce connected with 12:18 left to go to cut the score to 56-48.
 
The Boyce 3-pointer seemed to spark another double-digit comeback for the Saints, as Chavez and Chandler Redix began to connect from all over the floor. The 11-point lead for the Yellowjackets was swiped on a layup from Tavian Henderson with 8:41 left to go. Saint Martin's collected their first lead of the game since 17:24 mark in the first half, on a 3-pointer by Redix on the following possession.
 
The Saints opened up their largest lead of the game, 69-62, after a 3-pointer from Baerlocher in the final four minutes. However, the Yellowjackets continued to pressure and convert on their offensive end to pull within one possession with 60 seconds left on the clock. The Saints were forced to win the game at the free throw line, and in the final four minutes, SMU hit seven out of 12 attempts. With the misses, the Yellowjackets had the ball with 5.6 seconds, trailing by two, and drove the length of the court, only for the buzzer beater to miss left of the rim.

"These guys really believe in each other, and they pick each other up," said Pribble. "When one guy is struggling, someone else steps up. I thought Luke and Rhett put together really great performances tonight. Chandler, EJ, and Tavian all contributed huge plays down the stretch."
 
Chavez rounded out the week with 25 points on 8-for-15 shooting, including five 3-pointers, along with four rebounds. Boyce hit for 17 points and five rebounds, while Redix scored 16 points in only 27 minutes of action. Henderson came off the bench for game-leading 10 rebounds, while also posting six points. Baerlocher scored all nine of his points from beyond the arc, and finished the night with seven rebounds, five of which on the offensive glass.
 
As a team, Saint Martin's shot the ball 24-for-60 (40.0 percent) from the floor, 13-for-40 (32.5 percent) beyond the arc, and 15-for-21 (71.4 percent) at the free throw line. SMU grabbed 40 rebounds, compared to MSUB's 34, along with nine assists on 11 turnovers, with four blocks and three steals.

"As we move into the second half of our league, we'll need to take these lessons with us," Pribble said. "We'll get some much deserved rest, then back to the process next week."
 
The Saints get the weekend off before returning home for a rematch with Western Washington, their lone GNAC loss of the year. The game is set for Thursday, January 31 with a 7:00 p.m. tip with live stats and video, along with the Bryant and Clark Sports Connection radio call on smusaints.com.