Saints Late Push Comes Up Short At Northwest Nazarene - With starting point guard Jaden Nielsen-Skinner only playing three minutes, Northwest Nazarene staved off the Saints late rally to pull off the 71-65 result in Nampa.
Saint Martin's (14-6, 7-4 GNAC) led by Kyle Greeley's 19 points, and Alex Schumacher's 14, and Brett Reed's 12, were unable to close the gap down the stretch. Trailing by five at halftime, Saint Martin's stormed out of the gates in the second half and eventually took a lead with 16 minutes. However, the defense of Northwest Nazarene (6-7, 4-4) clamped down and used a 10-0 run over five minutes to squeeze out the victory.
Saints' Cold Second Half Proves Costly In Loss To Simon Fraser - It was a tale of two halves for the Saints north of the border, after leading by as many as 22 in the first, Simon Fraser roared back to win the game in the final seconds on a driving floater to knock off the Saints 64-63.
Saint Martin's (14-7, 7-5 GNAC) dominated the first half of action, building up a sizable lead on hot starts from Tyke Thompson, Marky Adams, and Brett Reed. With 4:17 left in the half, Saint Martin's had opened up a 22-point lead. Simon Fraser (10-8, 5-5) found life at the end of the half, scoring 10 straight until a Schumacher layup as time expired broke the run and gave SMU a 39-25 lead.
Lights Out Shooting Carries Saints To 18-Victory At Western Washington - After dropping their last three conference games, the Saints needed to come up clutch in Bellingham against Western Washington. Thirteen 3-pointers later, the Saints blew out Western Washington 86-68 to get back into the win column.
The Saints (15-7, 8-5 GNAC) were locked in right from the start. Going 13-for-25 beyond the arc, five different Saints players ended with multiple 3-pointers. Alex Schumacher led the team with four makes from beyond for 17 points, while Kyle Greeley led all scorers with 24 and three 3-pointers. Christian Haffner, Champ Spencer, and Goy Wang each contributed another two 3-pointers.
Jaden Nielsen-Skinner Named GNAC Player of the Week - Beginning with Western Washington Nielsen-Skinner commanded the Saints with a 14 point, 10 assist, four steal performance. The point guard shot 6-of-9 from the field, along with grabbing seven rebounds. Saint Martin's knocked off the Vikings 82-71 to improve their win streak to six games.
Nielsen-Skinner's 10 point, 12 assist showing led the way once again for the Saints' victory. Along with another double-double, he added four steals, and two rebounds as SMU improved to 11-3 overall, 4-1 in GNAC and their seventh straight win.
Marky Adams Named To GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team - After an honorable mention All-Conference selection in 2020, Marky Adams was voted to the GNAC Preseason All-Conference team on Thursday.
Divant'e Moffitt of Seattle Pacific was named the preseason Player of the Year. Moffitt was one of eight players selected unanimously, with Seattle Pacific leading the way with three selections.
Adams, a 6-9 center from Forks, Washington, saw his first substantial amount of playing time in 2019-20, and he did not disappoint. Playing 29 games, Adams averaged 10.7 points per game, 8.3 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, and shot 67.3 percent from the field. He ranked first in field goal percentage, and blocks, and second in the conference in rebounds.
He scored a season-high 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds twice. During the season, Adams recorded nine double-doubles.
In the shorten 2020-21 spring season, Adams suffered an injury that shut him down after nine games. During the year, Adams averaged 6.1 points and 4.7 rebounds, along with 1.8 blocks per contest. His season best was an 11-point, 7-rebound performance on two different nights against Seattle Pacific.
Saints' MBB Tabbed 9th In GNAC Preseason Poll - The Saints return a veteran core heading into the 2021-22 season that will look to prove the voters wrong. Saint Martin's placed ninth in the 2021-22 GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll on Friday afternoon.
Seattle Pacific enters the year with every expectation to win the GNAC. The Falcons swept all 10 first place votes and start the year as the clear preseason favorite. Alaska Anchorage (77 points), Western Washington (76) and Alaska (64) filtered in a second, third, and fourth respectively.
Northwest Nazarene (61), who made a deep run in the NCAA Tournament last year, placed fifth, followed by Central Washington (47) and Simon Fraser (41). Western Oregon (34), Saint Martin's (28), and Montana State Billings (22) rounded out the polling.
The Saints will be led by breakout star Alex Schumacher who led the team in scoring last spring at 15.3 points per game. The guard from Vancouver, Washington, reached the 20-point mark five times last season, highlighted by a 29-point performance over Northwest Nazarene. He also led the team in assists at 2.5 per game and steals at 1.8.
Tyke Thompson returns after being second on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game, along with his team-leading 6.4 rebounds per game. Thompson had a stellar opening game of the year, scoring 20 points, and grabbing 13 rebounds against Division-I Seattle U.
Returning down low for the Saints is Marky Adams, who was a 2020 GNAC All-Conference honorable mention. Adams missed the final three games of the year due to injury but still managed to average 6.1 points, and 4.7 rebounds, along with his team-leading 1.8 blocks per game.
Other notable returners include Goy Wang, a junior forward who averaged 6.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest. Junior guard John Moore, who averaged 4.7 points, and 3.5 rebounds in all 12 games. Guards Josh Camper, and Marcus Lenker saw action in 10 of the Saints' 12 games, and both averaged nearly eight minutes per contest.
The Saints welcome eight new players to the roster in 2021-22 including five transfers, and three freshmen.
Christian Haffner, a 6-2 guard from Gresham, Wisconsin, transferred from Des Moines Area community college. Kyle Greeley, a 6-5 sophomore guard, and Jaden Nielsen-Skinner, a 5-10 sophomore guard, both join the Saints from Portland State University. Brett Reed, a 6-8 forward, joins Saint Martin's for his final year, transferring from Chaminade where he ranked fourth in the PacWest in rebounding in 2018. Veljko Ilic, a 6-9 sophomore forward from Utah State Eastern, will add depth down low for the Saints.
Saint Martin's picked up two recruits from Sumner High School in 6-7 forward Champ Spencer, and 6-7 forward Nathan Vivola. Joining them in the freshman class is Cory Schramm, a 6-9 forward from Chelan High School.
