Gaels Edge Dons In Back And Forth Affair

Tuesday, February 20

Moraga, Calif.

8:00 PM

University of San Francisco

21-7,10-3WCC

#18/18 Saint Mary's

22-6,13-0WCC

Team	1	2	F
San Francisco	25	41	66
Saint Mary's (CA)	30	40	70

Photo by: Christina Leung

2/20/2024 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Josh Bascos

MORAGA, Calif. - Battling In a back-and-forth affair that came down to the wire, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (21-7, 10-3 WCC) fought until the final horn against Saint Mary's (22-6, 13-0 WCC), but the Gaels were able to squeeze out a narrow victory, 70-66, at University Credit Union Pavilion on Tuesday night.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Saint Mary's opened the contest with a 4-2 lead through the first three minutes of play, but an early 7-2 run by San Francisco, including five points by Marcus Williams, gave the Dons a 9-6 lead at 15:49.
The Gaels responded over the next six minutes to go up four, 15-11 at the 9:59 mark. At 9:38, Jonathan Mogbo found Malik Thomas for a three-pointer to cut the Gaels lead to one, 15-14.
Mitchell Saxen hit a free throw at 3:48 to give SMC a six-point advantage, 26-20, but back-to-back buckets from Williams put USF within one, 26-25 with just under two minutes to play in the half.
Ending the first period, two Alex Ducas free throws and a Mason Forbes layup put the Gaels on top, 30-25, as the green and gold headed into the break in a five-point deficit.
Marcus Williams opened the second half with a turnaround jumper, cutting the Saint Mary's lead to three, 30-27, at the 19:25 mark.
Two three-pointers on back-to-back possessions from Williams and Mike Sharavjamts brought the green and gold within one, 36-35 at 16:18.
Coming out of the 12-minute media timeout, Ndewedo Newbury cashed in a triple to give the Dons their first lead of the second half, 46-45.
Saxen and Ducas sparked five quick points for the Gaels to retake the lead, 50-46, but a 5-0 run courtesy of Ryan Beasley put USF ahead 51-50 at 8:29.
Extending their lead, another Williams three and a mid-range jumper from Ryan Beasley gave the Dons their biggest lead of the night, 58-54, with 5:25 remaining.
San Francisco kept the game within reach in the closing minutes, but a 15-4 burst by SMC over the next five minutes secured the victory for the Gaels as the Dons would fall to Saint Mary's by a final score of 70-66.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

Leading both teams in scoring, Williams scored 26 points on 11-of-20 shooting, which included tying his season-high with four made three-pointers.
Thomas and Ryan Beasley each totaled nine points on three made field goals, with Thomas also corralling six rebounds.
San Francisco outshot Saint Mary's from both the field and from three, with USF shooting 48.1 percent (26-54) from the floor to the Gaels' 45.8 percent (22-48) as well as 40.9 percent (9-22) from distance to SMC's 36.4 percent (4-11).

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

To watch the full postgame interview with head coach Chris Gerlufsen, please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco will return to the Hilltop for one final time this season this upcoming Saturday, Feb. 24. Tipoff from War Memorial at the Sobrato Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. as USF will celebrate senior night. Live streaming, radio and live statistics links are available via the team's schedule page.

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.

MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today! Click here to purchase.

SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor - Catholic Charities - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.