ANON12
Years ago
Pat Mills: St Mary's vs San Diego State (spoiler)
Men's Basketball Improves to 7-0 With 69-64 Win Over San Diego State
Anaheim, CA - The Saint Mary's men's basketball remained unbeaten and improved to 7-0 following a 69-64 win over the San Diego State Aztecs in the John Wooden Classic at the Honda Center. Tron Smith paced the Gaels with 20 points and Diamon Simpson had a double-double with 13 points and a season-high 16 rebounds.
After scoring just four points in the first half, and with the Gaels trailing by five (29-24) at the break, Smith exploded in the final 20 minutes by scoring 15 points off the bench. Smith finished the game shooting 5-for-11 overall, making 5-of-9 shots from the floor in the second half.
Simpson notched his third double-double of the season and 10th of his career was he was the Gaels' third leading scoring in the game with 13 points and he matched his career-high, pulling down 16 rebounds. He had just four points in the second half, but played big on the glass, grabbing 12 boards in the final 20 minutes.
Freshman guard Patrick Mills had another solid game for SMC as he had 15 points to go along with 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point land. Omar Samhan also finished in double figures with 10 points and three rebounds and åTodd Gold had a game-high six assists.
With Saint Mary's trailing 7-5 early, the Gaels used 7-0 run sparked by five points by Diamon Simpson to open a 12-7 lead at the 14:48 mark of the first half. The Aztecs used a 6-2 run to even the score at 13-13 at the 12:33 mark. Saint Mary's would regain the advantage on a basket by Simpson to take a 17-15 lead, but an 8-0 run by SDSU had the Aztecs leading 23-17 with 4:25 left in the first half.
Saint Mary's cut into the Aztec lead following a 3-pointer by Patrick Mills with 1:30 left in the half, to cut the deficit to 27-14. A lay up by SDSU's Richie Williams had the Aztecs leading 29-24 as the teams went to the locker room.
After SDSU opened a 34-26 lead a minute and a half into the second half, SMC answered with back-to-back threes by Mills and a lay up and a free throw by Tron Smith to take a 35-34 advantage at with 17:05 left. The run would reach 11-0 when Smith made a pair of free throws at the 16:38 mark.
The game seesawed for the next 10 minutes until Carlin Hughes made a three-pointer at the 8:50 mark to give SMC a 49-47 lead. Tron Smith made another free throw at 8:43 and then after a Billy White dunk by San Diego State, Omar Samhan make a lay-up to keep the Gaels ahead 53-50 with eight minutes left to play.
San Diego State regained the lead at 54-53 after a pair of free throws from Amoroso with 7:19 remaining in the game. The game would go back-and-forth for the next two minutes, and a 5-0 run by the Gaels had SMC leading 61-56 following a steal and lay-up by Tron Smith with 4:35 left on the clock.
A quick 4-0 run but the Aztecs cut the SMC lead to 61-60 and then Diamon Simpson missed two free throws with 2:47 left on the clock.
Saint Mary's will return to action on Tuesday, December 11 with a road game at Southern Illinois. The game in Carbondale, IL will mark the first true road game of the season for the Gaels. The game between SMC and the Salukis will begin at 7 p.m. Central Time.
