LACEY, Wash. – In what was a revenge match for the Saints, the second installment played out almost identical to the first one, but this time, the Saints rallied from behind. With only two minutes left to go, EJ Boyce connected on a rare 3-pointer for SMU, and Luke Chavez iced the game at the free throw line, hitting all six attempts in the Saints' 57-53 victory.
 
To stay atop the conference standings, the Saints needed to pull out all the stops to knock off Western Washington, the lone team who beat SMU in the first round of GNAC play. Western Washington held a 53-48 lead with 2:15 left to go; however, the Saints turned to their All-Conference guards in the waning possessions. After an offensive rebound by Rhett Baerlocher, he found Boyce out on the wing, who pump faked two defenders, then stepped back, and drilled the 3-pointer to tie the game at 53-53. After a costly WWU turnover, Chavez was fouled with seven seconds left and put SMU ahead with two free throws. With a chance to tie or take the lead, the Vikings fired the ball into the stands on a turnover, and Chavez calmly knocked the two free throws on the following possession to seal the victory.
 
The first lead of the game of more than two points took over ten minutes to reach. Western Washington and Saint Martin's struggled to find any offensive rhythm, but a 3-pointer for WWU gave them a 15-10 lead.
 
The Saints managed to respond right back, scoring six straight points, and taking a 16-15 lead on a dunk from Tavian Henderson.  Western Washington managed to regain the lead, and would hold on to it throughout a majority of the first half. The Saints' lone 3-pointer in the first half come from the unlikely hands of Jared Mathews, who broke their nine straight missed attempts streak. WWU closed out the half with a bucket and two free throws to take a 28-25 lead.
 
The conference's second leading scorer Trevor Jasinsky was held scoreless in the first half, but hit a 3-pointer to open up the second half. However, despite giving Western Washington their largest lead of the game, Jasinsky failed to another field goal in the game, and ended with five points. Boyce followed it up a 3-pointer of his own, only to be answered right back by another Vikings' three.
 
Chavez, who ended up leading SMU in scoring, was also held with a point in the first half, but he found his field goal at the 14:19 mark in the second half. The basket led to a 3-pointer by Baerlocher, and then another field goal from him, to pull SMU within one. The Saints gained their first lead of the second half on another Henderson dunk.
 
Over the next ten minutes of action, Western Washington was able to slowly edge out the Saints, outscoring them to a tune of 17-11. After a layup by Jalen Green with 2:15 left to go, the Vikings were held scoreless.
 
The Saints were unable to find their groove from beyond arc, and looked to their leader in Chavez to find a way to win the game. Chavez hit six free throws in the final minutes, and along with Boyce' clutch 3-pointer, the Saints found what it took to pull out another home victory.
 
Chavez led SMU in scoring with 12 points, along with his three assists, while Henderson came off the bench for 10 points and seven rebounds. Boyce was the only other scoring reaching double-figures with 10, while BJ Standley came close with nine points, and four steals. Mathews and Baerlocher each ended with five points, and combined for seven boards.
 
As a team, Saint Martin's shot 22-for-55 (40.0 percent) from the floor, 4-for-25 (16.0 percent) from beyond the arc, and 9-for-11 (81.8 percent) at the free throw line. SMU only grabbed 27 rebounds, compared to WWU's 39; however, the Saints had 10 assists on 13 turnovers, along with 11 steals and one block.
 
Saint Martin's hosts Simon Fraser on Saturday night, part of Pack the Pavilion celebration. Their game will follow the women's game against Montana State Billings, and will have live stats and video, along with a radio broadcast by the Bryant and Clark Sports Connection. All streams of the game can be found on smusaints.com.