NAMPA, Idaho – CJ Jennings scored a career-high 27 points to pace the Saints' in their 84-63 victory over Northwest Nazarene to open up GNAC action on Thursday night.
 
After trailing throughout the entire first half, Saint Martin's quickly flipped the script on the Nighthawks in the second half. SMU outscored their opponent 52-to-28, highlighted by Saints' lights out 3-point shooting. Demonte Malloy and Marky Adams once again both featured double-doubles, while Alex Schumacher notched a 14-5-5 performance.
 
The Nighthawks jumped out to an early 11-4 lead on the Saints, knocking down five baskets in the opening four minutes. After the initial run, Saint Martin's began to settle into the game, and start chipping away at the lead.
 
Demonte Malloy got the offense going with seven of the first 11 points for SMU. Marky Adams and Jennings began to join in on the offensive end, with Jennings connecting from deep, and Adams controlling the paint. Saint Martin's, over the course of the first half, trimmed an eight point lead down to as little as one. The Nighthawks went into halftime, holding on to a 35-32 advantage.
 
Saint Martin's wasted no time jumpstarting their offense in the second half, opening with a 14-4 run. The Saints took over their first lead of the game on a 3-pointer from Jennings, and never looked back.
 
The second half saw seven 3-pointers for the Saints, four of which came from Jennings. Saint Martin's couldn't seem to miss on the offensive end of the floor, connecting on 61 percent of their shots, which paced their 52-point second half.
 
Saint Martin's not only caught fire on the offensive side of the ball, but also on the defensive. The zone defense locked down on the Nighthawks, limiting them to only 33.3 percent field goal shooting, and a lackluster 1-for-10 beyond the arc.
 
SMU quickly pulled away from the Nighthawks in the second half, and turned a five point deficit into a 22 point. A 14-to-4 run in the early minutes of action, followed by a 12-to-3 midway through the half sealed the victory for the Saints.
 
Jennings connected on 7-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc, and led the Saints in scoring in both halves. Adams collected his third double-double of the year, and nearly blocked his way to a triple-double. The junior finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high seven blocks. Malloy added 19 points and 11 rebounds for his double-double, while Schumacher went for a steady 14-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist, and 5-steal night.
 
Saint Martin's shot the ball efficiently, going 29-for-59 (49.2 percent) from the floor, 11-for-24 (45.8 percent) beyond the arc, and 15-for-26 (57.7 percent) at the line. SMU grabbed a season-high 50 rebounds, with 11 assists on 18 turnovers, with eight blocks, and seven steals.
 
The Saints continue their road trip, heading to Ellensburg for a match-up with Central Washington on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. with live stats and video available on smusaints.com.