LACEY, Wash. – Tipping off the GNAC season at home, Saint Martin's dropped the conference opener 76-67 to a red-hot offensive outing from Alaska Anchorage on Thursday night.
 
Alaska Anchorage (6-2, 1-0) entered Marcus Pavilion firing on all cylinders from the outside, hitting 14 3-pointers. Saint Martin's (4-3, 0-1) struggled to keep pace in the first half, falling behind by 12 before outscoring UAA 33-to-30 in the second half. Alex Schumacher (18 points), Jaden Nielsen-Skinner (17 points), and Brett Reed (10 points) combined for 45 of the Saints' 68 points.
 
The only tie in score came on the first made field goal by the Saints on a jumper from Nielsen-Skinner at the 18:40 mark. Alaska Anchorage scored on the following possession, and never relinquished the lead after.
 
Alaska Anchorage jumped out a 17-5 lead after six minutes of action, connecting on three 3-pointers. Saint Martin's continuously chipped away at the lead, cutting it to as little as three in the first half. But with each Saints' run, Alaska Anchorage responded by growing the lead larger, and UAA took a 46-34 lead into the locker room at half.
 
After UAA's stretched to a game-high 16 to open the second half, Saint Martin's rattled off nine straight to bring the energy back into Marcus Pavilion. The two sides traded runs and momentum back-and-forth throughout the second half.
 
Saint Martin's once again managed to trim the lead back to within six with just two minutes left to go. But a lone 3-pointer from Schumacher was the only offense SMU could generate in the final minutes as Alaska Anchorage held on for the victory.
 
Saint Martin's returns to action on Saturday night, taking on Alaska at 5:15 PM. Live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com.
 
A Look Into The Numbers:

• Schumacher scored eight of his 18 points at the line, where he was perfect on the night
• Nielsen-Skinner went 4-for-5 beyond the arc
• In 24 minutes of action, Reed ended with 10 points, and 7 rebounds
• Out of the 68 points, 59 came from the starting lineup
• Saint Martin's finished with only 7 turnovers on the night