Men's Basketball | 1/18/2014 9:31:00 PM

Box Score

POSTGAME QUOTES

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Saint Martin's University men's basketball team watched its 20-point lead become a late two-point deficit, before closing out a 79-73 victory at Western Oregon University Saturday.

The Saints (6-9, 3-4 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) held on for the road victory behind an incredible shooting performance in the first half. SMU made seven of its first nine three-points through the first 15 minutes of the game. Saint Martin's made 64 percent of its shots, 16-of-25, from the field in the opening half.

Four Saints finished with double-digit point totals led by Ryan Rogers' game-high 19 points. The junior made seven of his 12 shots from the field, and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. Lucas Shannon added a season-high 15 points. Isaac Bianchini scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half, all from behind-the-perimeter. Evan Coulter also had 12 points. Riley Carel dished out 10 assists, an individual season-high for a WOU opponent.

Saint Martin's finished the game at 53 percent shooting from the field, while Western Oregon made 41 percent of its shots. After making seven three-pointers in the first half, SMU was 1-of-4 in the second. It was also 15-of-21 from the free throw line in the game. The Wolves made nine of their 26 three-point shots and 18-of-25 from the free throw line.

The game featured only one lead change and two ties. SMU jumped out to an early lead and built a double-digit advantage midway through the first half. A Rei Jensen jumper with 4:55 remaining in the opening half gave the Saints a 39-19 lead. An 8-0 Wolves' run closed the gap to 12 points, but Saint Martin's closed the half with the momentum. The Saints led 45-28 at halftime.

Saint Martin's built its lead back to 20 points two minutes into the second half. The Wolves used a 12-minute span to slowly cut into that margin. Lewis Thomas tied the game for the first time with a free throw with 3:03 left in regulation. Thirty seconds later, and 38 minutes into the contest, WOU had its first lead, 73-71, courtesy of a pair of Jordan Wiley free throws.

The advantage was short-lived, as it only last a minute and Saint Martin's scored the game's final eight points en route to the victory. WOU missed all three of its shots in the final minute, and turned the ball over twice. In comparison, the Saints made both of their shots, and went 3-of-4 from the free throw line.

The Wolves (10-7, 3-4 GNAC) finished with four players in double-digit scoring. Wiley had 14 points on 3-of-7 shooting from behind-the-arc and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. He also matched a game-high seven rebounds. Devon Alexander and Rodney Webster both scored 11, while Thomas finished with 10.

Western Oregon welcomes Alaska-Anchorage (10-8, 3-4) Thursday. The Seawolves have won seven straight over WOU, dating back to a Wolves win in Anchorage in 2010. The Wolves have not beat UAA in Monmouth since 2006. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Live video and stats will be available on WOUWolves.com.

Saint Martin's vs Western Oregon
01/18/14 7:30 p.m. at Monmouth, OR (New P.E. Building)
At Monmouth, OR (New P.E. Building)
SAINT MARTIN'S 79, WESTERN OREGON 73
SAINT MARTIN'S (6-9, 3-4 GNAC)
Rogers,Ryan 7-12 3-4 19; Shannon,Lucas 6-8 3-4 15; Bianchini,Isaac 5-6 0-0
14; Coulter,Evan 3-9 6-7 12; Carel,Riley 2-9 2-3 6; Copp,Tyler 2-3 0-2 6;
Jensen,Rei 2-2 1-1 5; Dodson,Matt 1-2 0-0 2; Norman,Brad 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
28-52 15-21 79.
WESTERN OREGON (10-7, 3-4 GNAC)
Wiley,Jordan 3-7 5-6 14; Webster,Rodney 4-9 3-3 11; Alexander,Devon 4-9 0-0
11; Thomas,Lewis 4-7 1-4 10; Sabic,Mirza 2-9 5-6 9; Sarhan,Marwan 2-5 2-2 7;
Hastings,Adam 2-5 1-2 5; Johnson,Drew 1-2 0-0 3; Schriber,Jordan 1-2 0-0 2;
DupreeTurner,Dezmond 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 23-55 18-25 73.
Saint Martin's................   45   34  -   79
Western Oregon................   28   45  -   73
3-point goals--Saint Martin's 8-16 (Bianchini,Isaac 4-5; Copp,Tyler 2-3;
Rogers,Ryan 2-3; Carel,Riley 0-3; Coulter,Evan 0-2), Western Oregon 9-26
(Wiley,Jordan 3-7; Alexander,Devon 3-6; Johnson,Drew 1-2; Sarhan,Marwan 1-1;
Thomas,Lewis 1-3; Hastings,Adam 0-1; Sabic,Mirza 0-4; Webster,Rodney 0-2).
Fouled out--Saint Martin's-None, Western Oregon-None. Rebounds--Saint
Martin's 35 (Rogers,Ryan 7), Western Oregon 28 (Wiley,Jordan 7).
Assists--Saint Martin's 19 (Carel,Riley 10), Western Oregon 8 (Sarhan,Marwan
2). Total fouls--Saint Martin's 18, Western Oregon 21. Technical
fouls--Saint Martin's-None, Western Oregon-None. A-517
Great Northwest Athletic Conference game