ELLENSBURG, Wash. – An explosive first half for the Saints propelled them to an 80-to-73 victory over Central Washington on Friday night.
The Saints (2-8) came out of the gates on fire, scoring 45 points in the opening half, while shooting a blistering 64 percent from the field.
Alex Schumacher led the effort with his game-high 23 points, along with seven rebounds, and four assists. Central Washington (0-3) made a push near the end the game, but ran out of time to complete the comeback.
After an opening 3-pointer for Central Washington in the first nine seconds of the game, Saint Martin's limited CWU to only one basket over the next seven minutes of action. During that time, the Saints jumped on the scoreboard with a 17-to-3 run to quickly gain control of the game.
The Saints continued to pile on to their lead over the final minutes of the first half, stretching it to as many as 21 right before the break.
In a turn of events, the second half began a lot like the first; however, this time it was Central Washington with the momentum. The Wildcats over the first seven minutes outpaced the Saints to a tune of 16-to-4; cutting the score down to just six.
Saint Martin's quickly responded behind the efforts of Schumacher and
Tyke Thompson, who ended with 13 points. SMU's 9-to-2 run pushed the lead back to double-digits with ten minutes left to play.
With a minute and change left in the game, and the Saints up by 16, it looked all but over. However, the Wildcats had one final run left in the tank, ending the game with 11 points in the final 78 seconds. The effort got them within seven, but was not enough as the Saints went on for an 80-to-73 win.
As a team, Saint Martin's shot 30-for-57 (52.6 percent) from the field, 11-for-32 (34.4 percent) beyond the arc, and 9-for-14 (64.3 percent) at the line. SMU was out rebounded 38-to-26, but managed to collect 18 assists, on 16 turnovers, along with 16 steals, and one block.
The Saints welcome Central Washington to Marcus Pavilion tomorrow, Feb. 27 with a 6:00 PM tip-off. Live stats and streaming will be available on smusaints.com.
