LACEY, Wash. – In a highly-anticipated battle between two of the top teams in the GNAC, Saint Martin's made a statement with a 94-76 win over SPU.
 
In a must-win game for the Saints, Jaden Nielsen-Skinner and Kyle Greeley put on a show for Marcus Pavilion as the duo combined for 45 of SMU's 94 points. Nielsen-Skinner posted his second double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 assists. Greeley was on fire from the field, shooting 11-13 for 23 points.
 
Christian Haffner was a key component in the win, hitting timely threes to shift the momentum to SMU and finished the night with 13 points on 4-6 from deep. Tyke Thompson (12) and Branden Bunn (10) rounded up the double-digit scorers for the Saints.
 
SMU came out with the starting lineup of Nielsen-Skinner, Greeley, Bunn, Hunter Sipe, and Shakeem Alcindor. Branden Bunn laced a three to match the Falcons and open the scoring for Saint Martin's. The two teams traded blows and showcased the strengths of their offense early before Seattle Pacific jumped out to a double digit lead with an 11-0 run that put them up 24-14 with just under 10 minutes left in the half. The Saints held their composure and responded with a 10-0 run of their own to tie the game up 24-24 at the eight minute mark. SMU found their rhythm defensively and closed out the half with an impressive 19-7 run capped off by Christian Haffner, who drained a deep three from the TwinStar logo to beat the buzzer and sent Saint Martin's into the break with a 43-35 lead.
 
The SMU coaching staff must have given their player quite a halftime speech because the game took an entirely different tone in the second half. The Saints opened the second half with a 31-14 run that pushed the Saint Martin's lead to 22 with nine minutes left in the game. SMU showcased their disciple and great coaching by keeping their effort on defense high and cruised to a 94-76 win.
 
Coach Landon praised his team on the victory with, "Tonight was an important win against a good team. Our guys settled in after a rough start and did a great job with our game plan on the defensive end. Offensively our guys took care of the ball and played unselfish, I can't ask for anything more than that."
 
The Saints now set their sights on returning to the top spot, as they host the #1 team in the GNAC, Seattle Pacific on Saturday, February 11th at 7:30 PM. Live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com.