LACEY, Wash. – The Saints defeated Central Washington, 70-66 in a game with massive post season implications. With two more regular season games to go, Saint Martin's sits in first place in the GNAC standings.
 
Saint Martin's (17-7, 10-5 GNAC) and the Wildcats (14-7, 8-6 GNAC) played a tightly-contest game that went down to the wire. The Saints made some timely baskets and key defensive stops to secure their home win and third win in a row. Alex Schumacher led the way for SMU with 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Jaden Nielsen-Skinner returned to the lineup after taking a few games off to recover from an injury, and made his presence felt with 13 points and a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe to seal the game away.
 
CWU got off to a quick 6-0 run before Schumacher got the Saints on the board with a quick layup off a great find from Nielsen-Skinner. Marky Adams sent Marcus Pavilion into a frenzy early with a poster dunk that kickstarted an 18-4 run to put SMU up 20-12 with eight minutes left in the first half.
 
The Wildcats answered with a run of their own late in the first half before Kyle Greeley nailed a 3-pointer with under a minute left to send Saint Martin's into the locker room with a 37-33 lead over Central Washington.
 
Saint Martin's came out of the break with dangerous intentions as Alex Schumacher threw up a lob for Marky Adams and he rattled the rim with a monster dunk to open the half. The Saints opened the half with a 12-5 run to give them a 49-38 lead with just over 15 minutes left in the half.
 
The Wildcats gradually chipped away at the lead and eventually tied the game up at 58-58 with five minutes left. CWU held the lead briefly before Adams tied the game up with another imposing slam and Nielsen-Skinner followed it up with a timely three-pointer.
 
Central Washington scored a pair of baskets to take the lead again but this time Schumacher hit the deep ball to regain the lead. Nielsen-Skinner put the game away at the free throw line to give the Saints their third win in a row.
 
The Saints hit the road next week to close out their regular season, traveling up to the Last Frontier to face Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday, February 24 at 8:30 PM PST and Alaska Anchorage on Saturday, February 26 at 8:30 PM PST. Live stats and video of the games can be found on smusaints.com.
 
A Look Into The Numbers:

• Brett Reed recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
• Marcus Lenker was a perfect 3-3 from deep for 10 points.
• Marky Adams led the team with three blocks.
• The Saints shot 38% from the field, 43% from deep and 82% from the free throw line.