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.