HAYWARD, Calif. – Saint Martin's bested the Pioneers in a battle of big runs, 72-66, to win the first of three games in California this week.
 
Saint Martin's (3-1) led by as much as 20 in their game against Cal State East Bay (2-4) but fended off a late comeback attempt with timely shots and free throws down the stretch on their way to a 72-66 win over the Pioneers. Kyle Greeley led the charge for the Saints, scoring 12 of his team-high 18 points in the second half and having an efficient 7-13 night from the field to keep East Bay at bay.
 
A free throw from Brett Reed got the Saints on the board and a crafty step-back three from Alex Schumacher was the first field goal for the Saints as they opened the game with a 24-10 run. The Pioneers hit a pair of three pointers to gain some of the momentum back before Saint Martin's responded with another run, this time 13-6 to push their lead up to 37-19 with just under three minutes left in the half.
 
Cal State East Bay found their rhythm and ended the half on a 14-2 run to bring themselves back within striking distance and go into the half trailing the Saints, 39-31.
 
Reed started the scoring for SMU in the second half as well with a strong drop-step spin in the post for two points. From here Saint Martin's struggled as the Pioneers slimmed the deficit down to one point, 41-40, with a 9-2 run to start the half . A right-handed floater from Schumacher kickstarted the Saints offense into a massive 14-1 run, that put them up 55-41 with 12 minutes left to play.
 
The Pioneers slowly chipped away at the Saints lead as the two teams traded baskets into the waning minutes of the second half . A contested three from East Bay made it a two possession game, 66-60 with two minutes left to play and another basket made things interesting 66-62. Greeley was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to six but the Pioneers promptly responded with a pull-up jumper to bring the lead back down to four, 68-64 with 33 seconds left to play. The combined free throw efforts of Haffner, Schumacher, and Goy Wang were enough to fend off the comeback and give the Saints the road win.
 
The Saints next game will be Friday, November 26th as they face Academy of Art at 4:00 PM. Live stats and video of the game will be available on smusaints.com.
 
 
A Look Into The Numbers:

• Reed recorded a double-double with 16 points and a team-high 13 rebounds
• Schumacher filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals
• Saint Martin's shot 42% from the field and 28% from deep
• The Saints had 11 offensive rebounds that led to 13 second chance points