On Thursday night in the Bay Area, the city of Moraga gathered around once again, to watch Saint Mary’s take on San Francisco, a top rivalry in the conference. The two teams are separated by under an hour, unless Bay Area traffic is in effect.
USF entered the game struggling, as they lost in poor fashion against Santa Clara on the road. Although their record is decent, they have somewhat underperformed so far into the season, which is well represented by their 2-5 record against the spread in WCC play.
Saint Mary’s, on the other hand, has been phenomenal this season, especially in the conference, where they sit undefeated thus far into the season. However, a Thursday night game against San Francisco had potential to be game one of their downfall, as they had a daunting schedule amongst them.
The first 15 minutes looked as even as possible, with the Gaels leading by one at the five minute mark, until they started to truly break away from the Dons.
The Gaels ended the first half on a 10-3 run, leading by eight at the break, 36-28.
As many basketball fans know, the first few minutes of the second half are the most important, whether it is to break away from a close game, or come back when trailing. For Randy Bennett, he took full advantage, while the Dons started slower, and Saint Mary’s started to pull away.
Starting the second half on a 10-1 run, the Gaels started to look great, and as if they were going to continue to pull away. Around the five minute mark, Gaels guard Jordan Ross drove for a layup to increase the lead to 26. It was his eighth point in the previous three minutes of the game.
Late in the game, the Dons put up a bit of a comeback, but not enough to be able to keep it too close, as the Gaels rolled to another victory, winning 71-51.
Paulis Murauskas led the way with 24 points, and Mitchell Saxen helped with 14. The interior play that the Moraga boys showed was great, and the Gaels dismantled the Dons.
The story for the Dons was Malik Thomas, who struggled heavily, and put up just 8 points on 1/12 shooting. Regardless, Carlton Linguard Jr. and Marcus Williams still had 14 points each to give the Dons a chance.
Saint Mary’s is looking phenomenal, and will play some tough teams coming up. They play Washington State twice, Santa Clara twice, Gonzaga, USF, and Oregon State. If the Gaels are able to stay consistent, it is going to be trouble for the WCC and the rest of the nation.