LACEY, Wash. – In a battle for sole possession of first place in the GNAC standings, the Saints pulled away from Simon Fraser in the second half, cruising to an 80-55 victory on Saturday night.
 
Marking their seventh straight victory, the longest since the 2018-19 season, Saint Martin's (11-3, 4-1 GNAC) claimed outright possession of the top spot in the conference standings. Five different Saints reached double-digits in scoring, including Jaden Nielsen-Skinner at 10 points, and 12 assists, along with Brett Reed's 20 points, 10 rebounds. SMU closed out the game on a 36-15 run to break open the 25-point victory.
 
Simon Fraser (6-4, 1-1) playing their first game in five weeks, started the game hot, leading 16-15 halfway through the first half. A fast break Champ Spencer 3-pointer, who ended with 11 off the bench, put the Saints on top, and SMU never looked back.
 
Before the end of the first half, the Saints' lead had swelled up to as many as 11, and SMU took a solid 37-28 lead into the locker room.
 
Saint Martin's looked to be on the verge of running away early in the second half before an 8-0 run by Simon Fraser made it a 44-40 game. Six points from Kyle Greeley, and a 3-pointer from Christian Haffner quickly put the Saints back up by double-figures just a minute later.
 
The shots continued to roll in for the Saints down the stretch, capped off by a 15-1 run as Saint Martin's turned a 4-point lead into a 25-point lead in the matter of 10 minutes. Simon Fraser had no answer for the Saints, and Saint Martin's rolled to their seventh straight win of the season.
 
As a team, Saint Martin's shot 29-for-57 from the field, including 8-for-12 beyond the arc. Greeley finished with 15 points, followed by Tyke Thompson with 12. SMU collected 11 steals on the night, led by Nielsen-Skinner's four.
 
The Saints return to action on Monday, January 17 at Seattle Pacific. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 PM with live stats and video available on smusaints.com.