For the first time in program history, the Saint Martin’s University men’s basketball team clinched a GNAC Tournament championship by defeating Alaska Anchorage 74-62 in Bellingham Saturday night.
Freshman Patrick Kilfoil earned the GNAC Tournament MVP award, the first underclassmen to ever win the honor. He scored a game-high 23 points in the title game. The Saints have secured an automatic bid in the NCAA Regional Tournament.
Kilfoil started his hot shooting night immediately, hitting a 3-pointer 32 seconds into the game for the Saints’ first bucket. The Seawolves led by five early in the first half before Dae’Kwon Watson, Kilfoil and Kaden Hansen hit three straight triples to vault Saint Martin’s ahead by four. The run concluded at 13-0 for Saint Martin’s, which helped the Saints build an eight-point lead.
Treys kept falling for Saint Martin’s, as Anthony Simo, Watson and Omer Ege Peksari drilled shots from deep to extend the lead to 11. The Saints hit 8 of 12 3-point attempts in the first half en route to a 34-25 halftime advantage.
Kilfoil added another 3-point out of the halftime break, and a triple by Hansen moments later gave Saint Martin’s its biggest lead at 19 four minutes into the second half. Kilfoil scored 11 points in the first six minutes of the second half, and he raised that mark to 14 with another triple and raised the margin to 25. Alaska Anchorage went on a short run to make the score closer at the end of the game, but the Seawolves’ only lead of the game was 2-0 and they trailed by double digits for all but the first minute of the second half.
Saint Martin’s improved its record to 25-5, tying the second-most total wins in a season in program history.
The Saints will compete in the West Region Tournament next weekend and will learn of their first-round designation Sunday night during the NCAA Division II selection show. Saint Martin’s athletics is inviting fans to attend a watch party at the Worthington Conference Center at Marcus Pavilion at 7:30 p.m. Sunday night to watch the selection show.
