Saints' Electric Offense Puts Up 94 In Win At Central Washington - Trailing at halftime, Saint Martin's put together one of their most complete halves of basketball all season, outscoring Central Washington by 14, and flying past the Wildcats for a 94-83 victory.
Central Washington (11-5, 5-4 GNAC) had no answer for the Saints' (14-4, 7-2) electric offense in the second half of play. Kyle Greeley led the way with a team-high 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting, along with five rebounds. Guards Alex Schumacher (20 points, five rebounds), and Jaden Nielsen-Skinner (nine points, 10 assists) controlled the tempo from the outside. Tyke Thompson, and Brett Reed both finished with 17 points, and six rebounds each. The five Saints combined for 87 of the Saints' 94 points, 26 of the 31 rebounds, and 19 of the 21 assists.
Hot Handed Billings Stuns Saints At Home - Montana State Billings rode the hot hand of guard Carrington Wiggins, who posted a career-high 34 points to upend the Saints at home 80-69 on Thursday night.
Saint Martin's (14-5, 7-3 GNAC) who entered the night on fire, winning 10 of their last 11 games, was unable to stop the efforts of Wiggins. Montana State Billings (9-9, 5-3) led most of the game, refusing to give in to the multiple runs by the Saints over the 40 minutes. Four different Saints finished in double-digits, led by Christian Haffner's 14 points, followed by Kyle Greeley and Alex Schumacher at 13, and Brett Reed's 12.
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.
