Friday, March 9, 2018

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Riding the momentum from its impressive showing at the GNAC Championships, No. 5 seed Saint Martin’s earned its first-ever NCAA tournament win in the opening round of the 2018 Division II West Regional.

Holding on in the final two minutes of play, the Saints took down No. 4 seed Cal Poly Pomona to capture a 66-58 win Friday night inside Western Oregon University’s New PE Gymnasium to improve to 24-8 on the season.

Saint Martin’s advances to the tournament’s semifinal matchup where it will face the winner of tonight’s game between No. 1 seed Western Oregon and No. 8 seed Point Loma.

Junior EJ Boyce held the hot hand for the Saints as he totaled a team-high 19 points. Of his six field goals, five came from behind the arc. Junior Luke Chavez was the only other Saint in double-figures as he chipped in 16 points on 50 percent shooting.

Despite outscoring Saint Martin’s 32-20 in the paint and 23-13 off the bench, Cal Poly Pomona was limited to just 37 percent shooting from the field and 10 assists. Jordan Ogundiran was the sole Bronco in double-figure scoring with 15 points.

The Saints jumped out to their biggest after a Matt Dahlen layup put SMU up 50-32 at the 10:01 mark of the second half. Cal Poly Pomona stormed back, however, as a Jeff Nibo dunk with 1:43 left in the contest cut the Saints’ lead down 61-56.

Saint Martin’s was able to knock down five free throws in the final 44 seconds to hang on against a Cal Poly Pomona team that shot 1 for 21 from behind the arc.