LACEY, Wash. – Saint Martin's battled back from 12 points down to take the lead in the second half, but Western Oregon pulled away in the final minutes to take home the victory on Saturday night.
Saint Martin's rallied from a first half deficit to take the lead 39-36 in the second half; however, Western Oregon's offense went off to shoot 57 percent from the field and 50 percent beyond the arc, limiting the Saints to 36 from the floor and 17 percent from beyond the arc.
CJ Jennings capped off with his second straight 20+ scoring performance, followed up by
Marky Adams nearly double-double with 12 points and nine boards.
Logan Rooney and
Alex Clinton combined for 15 points outside.
With the score being tied 9-9 in the opening minutes of the game, Saint Martin's grabbed their first lead off a Jennings layup. The score went back and forth for the next three minutes until the Wolves used a 6-0 run to establish a lead over the Saints.
WOU held onto this lead for the rest of the half, leading by as many as twelve, and put the score at 36-27 by the break.
Saint Martin's opened up the half with 12 straight points in the first three minutes of action to obtain the lead, highlighted with back-to-back dunks from
Marky Adams and
Logan Rooney. The momentum continued to flip back and forth with neither team being able to hold a lead.
Marky Adams tied up the score for the third time on his third dunk of the night at 47-47; however, WOU went on a 12-2 run to take the advantage.
In the final eight minutes, the Saints' offense went cold and the Wolves capitalized by scoring 21 straight points to finish the game and take home the victory.
Saint Martin's shot 20-for-55 (36.4 percent) from the floor, 4-for-23 (17.4 percent) beyond the arc, and 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) at the free throw line. The Saints grabbed 32 rebounds, 10 assists on 13 turnovers, along with seven steals, and two blocks.
Saint Martin's faces Seattle Pacific Tuesday, February 11 with a 7:00 p.m. start time in Seattle. Live stats and video will be available at smusaints.com.
