LACEY, Wash. – The Saints played most of the game without their leading scorer Demonte Malloy, who suffered an injury just five minutes into the game. Despite the loss, Saint Martin's made a run at the game, coming up just short of upsetting Western Washington 85-78 on Saturday night.
 
Four different Saints reached double-digits in scoring, including Alex Clinton, who dropped 14 points in just 24 minutes of action. Alex Schumacher ended the night with 17 points, four rebounds, along with Marky Adams' 13 points, and CJ Jennings' 16. The Saints connected on multiple 3-pointers down the stretch, while Western Washington struggled to ice the game at the line. The Vikings led by as many as 15 with three minutes to go, but the Saints cut the score down to five in the final possessions.
 
Saint Martin's offense got off to a cold start, only scoring six points through the opening eight minutes of action. A jumper in the paint by Schumacher helped kickstart a run for Saint Martin's, as the Saints turned around to shoot 6-for-8 over the next five minutes. During that time, SMU cut the lead to 24-21 with 7:33 left to go.
 
The Vikings responded down the stretch a couple clutch baskets to pull their lead back into double-digits, but it was Saint Martin's with the final run. The Saints once again dwindled the lead back to one possession on the hot shooting from Clinton, and Moore. At the break, Western Washington clung to a 43-37 lead.
 
Both sides traded baskets throughout the first ten minutes of action in the second half. Western Washington managed to have an answer each the time the Saints knocked down a couple baskets. The lead hovered around the nine point for much of the time.
 
The Vikings looked to have pulled away with three minutes on the clock, stretching their lead to the largest of the game at 75-60. However, the Saints weren't ready to go away.
 
In the final three minutes, Saint Martin's connected on seven shots, including four from beyond the arc. With the offensive explosion, the Saints were able to cut the score down to five. However, time ran out on the Saints' comeback, sealing the victory for Western Washington.
 
Saint Martin's as a team shot 32-for-65 (49.2 percent) from the floor, 8-for-25 (32.0 percent) from beyond the arc, and 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) at the line. SMU outrebounded the Vikings 33-32 with 15 assists on 14 turnovers, along with nine steals, and one block.
 
Saint Martin's hits the road to frozen tundra of Alaska, traveling to Anchorage to begin the road trip on Thursday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. with live stats and video of the game available on smusaints.com.