LACEY, Wash. – Fresh off their upset victory, the Saints faced another tough opponent in Marcus Pavilion, matching up against the Falcons of Holy Names University. SMU used a 25-12 run late to defeated the Falcons 75-67.
Starting off the season defeating a ranked opponent would have any team's confidence sky-high, but the Saints (2-0, 0-0) understood that no game is a guaranteed win and the Holy Names (0-2, 0-0) proved that tonight. Branden Bunn was the star of the night for the Saint Martin's, following up his 16-point performance with a 26-point showcase that featured baskets from all three levels of the floor.
Kyle Greeley followed up his perfect performance with an efficient 16 points on 60% shooting from the field and 100% from the free throw line to go along with his 10 rebounds for the first double-double of the season.
Jaden Nielsen-Skinner was the final member of the double-digits club with 12 points to go along with his four assists.
SMU came out with the starting lineup of Nielsen-Skinner, Bunn, Greeley, Nathaniel Stokes and Shakeem Alcindor. The Falcons won the tip and scored on their opening possession and Bunn nailed a three on the following possession to score the first basket for Saint Martin's. The two teams traded blows the entire first half with neither team able to extend their lead beyond two possessions the whole half. HNU went into the break with a two point lead, 38-36 lead over the Saints.
The Falcons kept their foot on the gas in the second half and opened with an 8-2 run to put some pressure on SMU. Saint Martin's showed their resilience and responded with a 12-6 run fueled by Bunn exploiting mismatches to tie the game up 50-50 with 13 minutes left to play. Holy Names regained the lead briefly before the Saint erupted and closed out the game with a massive 25-12 run with almost half of those points (11) coming from Bunn. Bunn scored 17 of his 26 in the second half and SMU got the win at home, 75-67.
Head Coach
Aaron Landon shared his thoughts on his team's comeback win, "Our guys fought hard when things weren't going well tonight and figured out how to win a close game. Playing back to back in a weekend is always tough but we have a mature group and our guys answered the bell."
The Saints will be back on their home court on Monday, November 14 hosting the Douglas College Royals at 6 PM. Live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com.
