ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Saint Martin's Men's Basketball team won its road matchup at Alaska Anchorage in the most dramatic of fashion, as senior guard Dae'Kwon Watson drilled a deep three-pointer at the buzzer to stun the Seawolves and secure a 57-56 victory.
The game went back-and-forth in the final possessions, with the Saints trailing 56-54 with just three seconds to go, before the miraculous effort from Watson. The matchup of top GNAC teams concluded the regular season for the Saints, who tallied a 15-3 conference record and 23-5 overall record. Saint Martin's heads to the 2025-26 GNAC Championships next weekend as the tournament's top seed.
How It Happened
First Half
- The Saints built up a 10-3 lead out of the gates, riding a 10-0 run capped off by a Pablo Navarro three-pointer.
- The first half was low-scoring, as a three-pointer by Omer Ege Peksari put the Saints up 16-9 at the 10-minute mark.
- After the Seawolves trimmed the lead to 16-12, a 7-0 run by the Saints saw back-to-back threes from Kaden Hansen and Dae'Kwon Watson put Saint Martin's up 23-12 with 4:42 left in the clock.
- A layup by Anthony Simo with under 10 seconds to go put the Saints up 29-18 at halftime.
Second Half
- Midway through the second half, a pair of free-throws by Pablo Navarro put the Saints up 36-25 with 14:37 on the clock.
- The Seawolves responded with a major run that saw them take the lead, going on a 14-1 run to go up 39-37 with 9:09 to play.
- The remainder of the game went back-and-forth, with the Saints trailing 49-43 with 4:14 left in the game.
- A 6-0 run by the saints capped off by a Kaden Hansen layup knotted the game at 49-49 with 1:26 on the clock.
- The teams exchanged the lead in the following possessions, as Saint Martin's went up 52-51 with a Kaden Hansen three-pointer with 41 seconds left in the game.
- With 21 seconds left, John McFadden hit a layup for the Seawolves to go up 53-52, before Kaden Hansen fought through contact and hit a layup to put the Saints ahead 54-53 with 14 seconds to go.
- Alaska Anchorage moved the ball well on the following possession and found Akok Machar for a corner three-pointer with three seconds to go, igniting the home crowd and putting the Saints' backs against the wall.
- Needing a miracle, Kaden Hansen inbounded the ball to Dae'Kwon Watson, who pulled up a three-pointer from about 30 feet out, drilling the shot with time expiring and securing the last-second victory for the Saints.
Top Performers
- Pablo Navarro notched his sixth double-double of the season, totaling 16 points and 10 rebounds, while adding three steals.
- Kaden Hansen scored 14 points and added three assists and three rebounds.
- Patrick Kilfoil tallied eight points, five rebounds, and two steals.
Team Stat of the Game
The Saints out-rebounded the Seawolves 37-28.
Up Next
The Saints head to the GNAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed, and will play the winner of Seattle Pacific and Central Washington in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on March 6.
