LACEY, Wash. — The Saint Martin's Men's Basketball team defeated Alaska Fairbanks by a score of 66-56 at Marcus Pavilion on Saturday, December 6.

The Saints saw 20-point performances from Dae'Kwon Watson and Kaden Hansen. The win improved SMU's record to 7-2 on the season and 2-0 in GNAC play.

How It Happened

First Half

• After Alaska Fairbanks took an early 2-0 lead, Saint Martin's responded with a 13-0 run that saw the Saints take an 11-point lead with 14:28 on the clock.
• The Saints pushed the lead to double digits midway through the half, before the Nanooks cut the lead to 16-11. SMU led 18-11 at the 10-minute mark.
• After a jumper by Omer Ege Peksari put the Saints up 20-11 with nine minutes to go in the half, both teams went scoreless for the ensuing 3:12 of regulation.
• A three-pointer by Dae'Kwon Watson with 44 seconds remaining in the half put SMU up 32-18. The Nanooks scored five points in the final possessions of the half, trimming the Saint Martin's lead to 32-23 at halftime.
• Dae'Kwon Watson converted four three-pointers in the first half.

Second Half

• Watson picked up right where he left off on the first possession of the second half, hitting a three-pointer off an assist from Diego Trejo-Delgado to put SMU in front 35-23.
• Saint Martin's pushed ahead 42-31 with 16:11 remaining in the second half, before Alaska Fairbanks went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 42-38 with 14:31 left in the game. Kaden Hansen responded with a three-pointer on the following possession, ending the run and putting the Saints up 45-38.
• The three-pointer by Hansen evolved into a 7-0 run that put the Saints up 49-38 with just over 11 minutes remaining in regulation.
• The Saints' lead hovered around 10 points, until the Nanooks rallied a 9-2 run to trim SMU's lead to 53-50 with 4:28 remaining.
• Dae'Kwon Watson took matters into his own hands on the following two Saints possessions, converting three-pointers to push the Saints ahead 59-50 with 3:20 left in the game.
• The back-to-back three-pointers by Watson turned into a 13-6 run to close out the game, with the Saints going five for six at the free-throw line down the stretch to pull off a 66-56.

Top Performers

• Dae'Kwon Watson led the Saints with 23 points, shooting 7-12 from three-point range.
• Kaden Hansen finished with 20 points, while adding three assists, two steals, and two rebounds.
• Diego Trejo-Delgado totaled 10 points and seven rebounds.
• Mark Clegg Jr. led all players with 11 rebounds.

Team Stat of the Game

Saint Martin's capitalized off 26 points in the paint.

Up Next

The Saints will return to Marcus Pavilion on Dec. 16, hosting Pacific University at 6 p.m.