HONOLULU, Hawaii — The Saint Martin's Men's Basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2025-26 season, falling at Hawaii Pacific by a score of 88-75.

The Saints were led by 23 points from Dae'Kwon Watson, but saw a steady advantage midway through the first half slip into a 13-point loss. The defeat dropped SMU's record this season to 2-1.

How It Happened

First Half

• The Saints converted seven three-pointers and shot 38.9% from beyond the arc in the first half, but a 25-13 disadvantage in rebounding and a 51.4% shooting clip from the Sharks put Saint Martin's down 53-43 at half time.
• After a 7-2 start out of the gates by Hawaii Pacific, the Saints climbed back and eventually took their first lead of the game as a Dae'Kwon Watson layup with 16:26 remaining in regulation put the Saints up 10-9.
• The Saints held a steady lead for much of the first half, as Watson pushed the SMU advantage to 28-21 with a layup at the 11:07 mark of the first half.
• SMU led for a solid portion of the first half, but HPU came back to tie the game at 37-37 with 6:02 left in the first half. A huge 15-4 run by the Sharks put the Saints behind 52-41 with 1:35 left in the half — free throws down the stretch pushed the score to 53-43 Sharks at halftime. Watson led the Saints with 18 points in the first half.

Second Half

• After both teams exchanged points in the opening stages of the second half, the Sharks embarked on an 8-0 run to push the Saints' deficit to 70-52 with 12:59 remaining in the half.
• Kaden Hansen scored back-to-back baskets, and Nari Jordan scored a layup off an offensive rebound to trim the HPU lead to 70-58 with 11:29 to go.
• A three-pointer and three ensuing free throws pushed the Sharks' lead back to 76-58.
• The Sharks began to pull away with under nine minutes remaining, building a 20-point advantage. The Saints ended the game on a 10-2 run and trimmed the deficit to 13, but were unable to make up any further ground and lost 88-75.

Top Performers

• Dae'Kwon Watson led the Saints with 23 points off 8-13 (61.5%) shooting from the field and 5-9 (55.6%) shooting from beyond the arc. Watson also recorded three steals, one block, and one assist.
• Diego Trejo-Delgado scored 15 points and added four rebounds.
• Mark Clegg Jr. scored 10 points and added five boards.

Up Next

Next up, the Saints will return to Lacey to host Evergreen State in the team's 2025-26 home opener. THe game on Nov. 22 is set to tip off at 6:30 p.m.