Saint Martin’s ekes out win vs Western Washington, 77-75

Vowing to avenge their latest road loss late in January from the hands of Alaska, the Saints bounced back from a 10-point deficit to beat the Western Washington University, 77-75, in a nail-biter of a contest last Thursday evening, February 1, here in Lacey as NCAA Div2 basketball action continues.

In a game where the visitors had a response to their every shot, the Saints maintained composure until finally brewing the exclamation point of a 12-0 run in the final minutes, initiated by the Saints’ top scorer Kyle Greeley, who had 19 points and eight rebounds, and punctuated by a steal-and-score from an unheralded guard Myles Samuels

Rallying back from a 65-75 hole with under four minutes to play, the Saints displayed sharp discipline in their defensive structure to hold the Vikings scoreless up until the end while improving their shot selection to climb back from the trenches. A swift 6-0 run from two stepback jumpers from senior guard Kyle Greeley and a gritty lay-up on the paint from 6’8” center Shakeem Alcindor cut the lead to four with two minutes to go.

With two Western Washington players missing their free throws in the clutch, the air felt different inside the Marcus Pavilion as the crowd felt the comeback was coming. With less than a minute left to play, Tyke Thompson nailed the dagger trey from the wing to make it a one-point game, 74-75.

As the visiting Vikings misfired from range, the Saints were disciplined in rebounding and never gave further second chances. At 20 seconds left, Jayshawn Moore was fouled from an offensive rebound and split his free throws to make it a tie game.

And when the Saints needed a hero, a junior guard stepped up to the plate.

The final sequence leading to the game winner by Myles Samuels vs Western Washington U.

Deadlocked at 75 at 10 seconds left with no timeouts in front of a roaring home crowd on its feet, a brave Myles Samuels snatched the ball from the driving Western Washington guard and sprinted with it as he laid down the easiest layup of his life to bring the lead to the hosts, their first lead of the game since a 27-26 lead at the first half.

Samuels, the Floridan native, achieved hero status as he stole the ball from the inbound again as the buzzer expired to seal an emphatic Saints win at home, in front of his dad watching from the bleachers.

“God bless this guy, because you don’t coach that. That’s just a winner, making a play like that,” said Saints head coach Aaron Landon, referring to Samuel’s clutch game-winner.