LACEY, Wash. – For the third straight season, the Saints are heading to the GNAC Championships. After No. 14 SMU dominated Concordia 73-41 inside Marcus Pavilion, the Saints clinched the first spot in the GNAC Championships in Bellingham, Washington the second week of March.
 
The Saints, coming off a first in program history of sweeping both Alaska schools, rode the momentum into their game with Concordia. SMU's defense was unwavering, limiting the Cavaliers to only 16 first half points, including their leading scorer of 15 points per game to only two. On the flip side, the Saints spread around the offense with four players getting into double-figures. Leading the way was EJ Boyce with 19 points, highlighted by his five 3-pointers, while Luke Chavez added 12, Chandler Redix at 11 and Jordan Kitchen with 10.
 
"The guys put together a good 40 minutes tonight," said head coach Alex Pribble. "We really buckled down defensively and held a good offensive team in check. They have a lot of weapons on that team, and I felt like our guys forced them into tough shots a lot of the night."
 
Two 3-pointers by Boyce in the opening minutes helped the Saints to a quick 9-2 lead as Concordia never managed to lead in the game; and their only tie coming at 2-2. The score got to as close as two, before Boyce buried another long ball, and the Saints responded with a 16-0 run over seven minutes.
 
A lot like their game with Simon Fraser in January, Saint Martin's used a 25-7 run in the first half to secure control of the game and never looked back. After Concordia managed to trim the lead down to 31-16, the Saints closed out the half on another run. This time it was eight straight points to stretch the lead back to 39-16 at halftime.
 
Saint Martin's and Concordia opened up the second half with trading baskets over first eight minutes. Concordia managed to put up 15 points in the first eight minutes, almost equal to their first half total. However, the Saints kept pass and scored 15 as well.
 
With the offense connecting from beyond the arc, it opened up the paint for the Saints. Kitchen, along with Tavian Henderson and Rhett Baerlocher capitalized on it, scoring down low. In the final minutes of the game, Kazuma Lane and Logan Adams came in off the bench to become the fifth and sixth Saints to hit from beyond the arc. With the bench scoring, the Saints secured their largest margin of victory (32 points) since their game against The Evergreen State College on December 7.
 
Kitchen, to go along with his 10 points, also grabbed 10 rebounds, to complete his first double-double of the season. Henderson came off the bench for eight points, while Baerlocher added five points, and each rounded out five boards. Boyce, Chavez, and Redix combined for 42 points, more than Concordia.
 
"Luke and EJ sparked us offensively, and Jordan brought great energy defensively again," said Pribble. "We had great contributions all the way through our roster, including great 3's down the stretch from Kaz(uma) and Logan. Those guys put in so much work day in and day out, it was special moment when they knocked down the shots at the end of the game."
 
As a team, Saint Martin's shot 26-for-57 (45.6 percent) from the field, 12-for-32 (37.5 percent) beyond the arc, and 9-for-12 at the free throw line. The Saints outrebounded Concordia 40-to-30, along with 19 assists to 12 turnovers, with four steals and blocks.
 
"Moving forward we're going to have to be really sharp if we're going to compete with Western Oregon on Saturday," stated Pribble. "They are a tough team, who pressure all game, and are going to have a chip on their shoulder. It will be a great challenge."
 
The Saints host Western Oregon on Saturday at a new tip-off time, now scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Live stats and video, along with an internet radio broadcast by the Bryant and Clark Sports Connection will be available on smusaints.com.