LACEY, Wash. – Despite locking down defensively as the game went on, the Saints were unable to overcome Seattle Pacific, 70-to-62, on Thursday night.
 
Seattle Pacific (2-2) claimed both ends of the back-to-back series largely in part to their nearly perfect 25-for-26 performance at the free throw line. Saint Martin's (0-3) limited the Falcons' to only 31 percent from the floor in the second half, while managing to tie the game with just a minute a go. But Ty Velasquez's game-tying 3-pointer was the final basket of the game for SMU, as the Falcons closed out the game with eight straight points.
 
Just like the first game, the Saints managed to jump out to an early lead, highlighted by two Velasquez's 3-pointers, who ended the night with a team-high 13 points. Leading by as many as seven, the Saints' offense hit a dry spell around six minutes into the game. Seattle Pacific jumped on the opportunity, outscoring the Saints 12-to-2 over the course of five minutes, and gaining the lead.
 
After a John Moore layup broke the shooting slump, Tyke Thompson followed up with a dunk to put the Saints back on top 27-to-26 with 5:32 left to play in the half. However, the offensive struggles started back up, as Saint Martin's closed out the final five minutes with only one basket, and trailed by five going into the break.
 
Seattle Pacific quickly jumped out to a 12-point lead, their largest of the game, in the second half. Despite the Saints' leading scorer Thompson dealing with foul trouble most of the game, the Saints found ways to stay in the game. Large part due to their defensive intensity.
 
Just 24 hours removed from allowing Seattle Pacific to shoot 70 percent in the second half of Wednesday game, the Saints' flipped the script. SPU struggled to connect in the second half on Thursday, hitting for 7-for-22 from the field. The defense of the Saints allowed them to slowly chip away at the lead before eventually tying the game up.
 
An Alex Schumacher 3-pointer, and a Marky Adams' dunk bookend a 7-0 run for the Saints that saw them tying the game at 54-to-54 with just 6:47 left to go. The Saints did manage to take the lead for a short time, before tying the game twice more at 57-to-57 and 62-to-62 down the stretch. However, the Falcons' inability to miss a free throw helped Seattle Pacific stave off the comeback, and survive for a 70-to-62 victory.
 
Velasquez, along with 13 points, finished with four rebounds, two assists, and two steals off the bench. Moore finished with eight points, and nine rebounds, while Demonte Malloy nearly hit a double-double with 11 points, and nine rebounds off the bench. Adams was the only other Saint to reach double-digits with 10.
 
Saint Martin's shot 26-for-65 (40.0 percent) from the floor, 6-for-23 (26.1 percent) beyond the arc, and 4-for-10 at the line. The Saints outrebounded the Falcons 33-to-31, along with nine assists on 12 turnovers, six steals, and two blocks.
 
The Saints return to action on Tuesday, January 26 against Division-I opponent Portland State. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:05 PM with live stats and video available on smusaints.com.