Saint Martin bows to Simon Fraser University 74-72

It could have been two massive come-from-behind wins at home, but lightning didn’t strike twice for the Saints as they were stunned by Simon Fraser University, 72-74, in an upset at the Marcus Pavilion last Saturday, February 3, after Saint Martin’s rallied to come back from another deficit late in the second half only to come short at the buzzer.

Two days after the comeback win against the Vikings, Saint Martins faced a familiar situation at five minutes left in the game as they were trailing 56-66 after a see-sawing match where the Canadian visitors dominated most of the second half.

With the confidence of the last match, star guard Kyle Greeley led the Saints to climb to the lead as he buried clutch shots in the final stretch, sinking 11 of his 20 points just in this final four minutes of the match, while the Red Leaves tried to play catch-up to retain their trimmed lead in front of a gritty Saint Martin’s defense.

With thirty seconds left to play, the Saints stayed under the breath of the Red Leaves as Jade Nielsen-Skinner sank both his freebies to make it a one-possession game. After a foul at 16 seconds to go, Greeley tied the game after sinking both free throws, 72-72.

But heartbreak struck the Saints as Simon Fraser guard Elliot Dimaculangan spots an open Immanuel Oludele in the paint to hand the free lay-up to give them the lead with a split-second left.

Tyke Thompson lobs it to last game’s hero Myles Samuels for the buzzer-beating shot, only for the ring to spit the ball out as Simon Fraser celebrated their first win against the Saints in five years.

“We did an okay job in the first half. We sort of neutralized them. But what happened in the second half is that’s where the ugly side came out. They killed us in the second-chance points.” said head coach Alan Langdon as he minced no words in the postgame interview. “There’s so much that we could have done tonight to get a better outcome and that’s what we’ll talk about in the locker room.”

After this game, the Saints, although still topping GNAC, dropped to fourth in the West, with one win and one loss in their home stint improving their record to 18-3, as they continue their bid to return to the single elimination stage this coming March.

The Saints will have many crucial games away from Lacey. They will return to Marcus Pavilion on February 22 to face Alaska Anchorage and on February 25 to avenge their loss against Alaska Fairbanks at home.