LACEY, Wash. – Saint Martin's got back on track in conference with an, 82-63, win over the Alaska Nanooks.
The Saints offense was dialed in as five different players recorded at least 13 points.
Branden Bunn led the bunch with 16 points in just 19 minutes of play.
Jaden Nielsen-Skinner had himself a day with 15 points to go along with his eight assists.
Tyke Thompson led the team in rebounds with eight to go along with his 14 points.
Champ Spencer was locked in from long-range and went 4-7 from deep on his way to a 14 point night and
Kyle Greeley rounded up the bunch with a busy stat line of 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
Hunter Sipe got his first start of the season for SMU alongside Nielsen-Skinner, Bunn, Greeley, and
Shakeem Alcindor. Bunn was aggressive early and earned a pair of free throws in the Saints first possession to score the first points of the game. The two teams spent the early minutes feeling each other out before Saint Martin's used a 16-4 run to put themselves ahead, 36-27 with just over three minutes left in the first half. Alaska responded with a run of their own just before the break the trim the deficit and SMU went back to the locker room with a 38-34 lead over the Nanooks.
UAF scored two quick baskets to start the second half and the game was all knotted up at 38-38 with 19 minutes left to play. With just under 17 minutes left to play, Saint Martin's erupted with a 22-3 run that lasted almost a full seven minutes and put the Saints ahead 60-41 with 10 minutes left. The Nanooks responded with a 15-5 run of their own to bring it back down to a single-digit deficit at 65-56 but Saint Martin's closed out the game with a 17-7 run led by Spencer and secured the 82-63 home win.
Head coach
Aaron Landon reflected on the win with, "I was really proud of how we responded in the second half after a rough start on the glass. We didn't have our best shooting night but we did a great job defensively and earned some important opportunities on the offensive glass."
The Saints will be back on their home floor on Saturday as they host Alaska Anchorage at 5:15 PM. Live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com.
