The battle is joined: Paulius Murauskas brought down eight rebounds to go with 26 points. / Photo by WCC Media
Gaels Fall in Tightly Contested West Coast Conference Semifinal Bout to Santa Clara, 76–71
Saint Mary’s and the Broncos traded the lead 14 times in a thrilling game. Paulius Murauskas topped all scorers with 26 and Mikey Lewis dropped 23.
In a game that featured six ties and 14 lead changes, the Santa Clara Broncos narrowly outlasted the Saint Mary’s Gaels in Monday evening’s West Coast Conference Semifinal Clash at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Neither team led by more than seven points in this one, with the game bobbing back and forth with one possession leads for most of the final five minutes.
Paulius Murauskas led all scorers with a whopping 26 points to go along with eight boards. Murauskas was a stellar 9–15 from the field, and buried all six of his free throw attempts, trying to will the Gaels to victory. Mikey Lewis also surpassed 20 points, dropping 23 and canning half of the Gaels’ six made threes. Rounding out the double digit scorers for the Gaels was Andrew McKeever, who logged a double-double off the bench with 11 points and 11 boards.
Back-and-Forth to the Buzzer
Santa Clara struck first with a three-pointer, and the Gaels took their first lead of this game with 8:22 remaining in the first as part of a 12–2 run. They would not relinquish that throughout the remainder of the frame, extending it to as large as six points. A Joshua Dent bucket jumper at the buzzer sent the game into halftime with the Gaels ahead 35–32.
Saint Mary’s extended their lead back out to five just five minutes into the second stanza, but Santa Clara refused to allow the Gaels to pull away. With 6:38 remaining, the Broncos hit their largest lead of the game, at 64–57, but this prompted an immediate Gael surge: A 12–4 run sparked by Mikey Lewis and Paulius Murauskas gave Saint Mary’s a one-point lead with 2:38 to play. Unfortunately, the Broncos drained a pair of timely, contested three pointers down the stretch to salt away the 76–71 win.
Milestones for the Night
With his 26 point outpouring on Monday night, Paulius Murauskas has now scored more than 1,000 points as a Gael. He also became the first Saint Mary’s player since Jordan Ford to score 600+ points in a season. Ford accomplished this feat twice, in 2018–19 and in 2019–20.
Mikey Lewis ran his double-digit scoring streak to nine straight games, and his consecutive 20+ point scoring streak to three games in a row, both career marks. Lewis also drained all four free throw attempts, moving his career percentage to 84.4% from the stripe, good for fifth best in program history.
Andrew McKeever logged his eighth double-double of the season, breaking a tie with Paulius Murauskas for the team lead in that category.
It wasn’t for lack of rebounding that Saint Mary’s didn’t win this one: The Gaels finished +10 on the glass against the Broncos. This was just the third time this season that the Gaels have out-rebounded an opponent and lost, and the first time that they've out-rebounded an opponent by double-digits and lost.
Up Next: NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday
Santa Clara faces Gonzaga in the WCC finals on March 10; this is the first time SCU has been in the WCC final since 2007. The Gaels, who share the WCC Regular Season Title—something they have won outright or shared four years in a row—now wait to hear their name called on Selection Sunday, March 15, with the news as to where they will be headed for round 1 of the NCAA Tournament.
This will be the fifth year in a row Saint Mary’s has earned an invite to the Big Dance. And coming into this year, the Gaels have made 18 postseason appearances in a row—a distinction held by only four teams. This year will extend the Gaels’ streak to 19.
The Selection Sunday show takes place at 3 p.m. Join the Saint Mary’s community for a Selection Sunday Watch Party. Details to come.
