Burnaby, B.C. – The Saint Martin's men's basketball team (17-4, 9-2 GNAC) had just a three-point lead with 4:23 to go in the first half, but with trio of threes and some good defense, the Saints latched on to a double-figure lead that they would hold for most of the remainder of the night. When all was said and done, SMU downed Simon Fraser University (6-15, 1-10 GNAC) by a score of 82-63 Saturday night north of the border.
 
The nerves might have got a little tense in the second half when a SFU bucket cut the Saint lead down to just seven points with only 12 minutes to go. It was Nathaniel Stokes that helped get SMU back on track when Jaden Nielsen-Skinner found him on a hesitated pick-and-roll for an easy lay-in. It was then another Skinny assist that found Christian Haffner who was way downtown but splashed it in from deep. The next bucket was Skinny keeping it to himself and laying it up and in. From there it was easy coasting to the finish for SMU who got leads of 20+ before letting their foot off the gas and rolling by with a 19-point win.
 
Stokes had a career-night notching 17 points off the bench to go with seven boards. Nielsen-Skinner nearly tagged his second double-double with 12 points, nine assists and four steals. Hunter Sipe added 15 on four three-pointers, while Branden Bunn added 12, and Shakeem Alcindor chipped in 10. Everybody that stepped on the floor for SMU scored at least three points.
 
The Saints are back at home in a week when they host the Wolves of Western Oregon (9-9, 6-5 GNAC) on Saturday, February 4^th. Make sure to show up early for Warming Up with the Saints before tipoff.