The Saint Martin’s men’s basketball team is headed to the GNAC Championship Game for the second time in program history.
The top-seeded Saints defeated Central Washington 87-68 in the GNAC Tournament semifinals Friday night, riding a huge first-half spark that carried into a one-sided victory. The win for Saint Martin’s marks a tie for the third-most wins in a season in program history with 24. Saint Martin's, which will face Alaska Anchorage in the title game Saturday at 7:30 p.m., shot over 50% as a team, saw five players score in double figures, and outrebounded CWU by 23.
After a close 5-4 start in favor of the Saints, a 7-0 run put Saint Martin’s ahead 12-4 with 16:41 on the clock. The Saints hit five 3-pointers in the opening 10 minutes and built a 27-21 halfway through the first frame.
Saint Martin’s blew the game open after holding a six-point lead with five minutes left, scoring 12 unanswered in a run capped off by a Dae’Kwon Watson triple. The Saints led 45-30 at halftime. Diego Trejo-Delgado scored 10 points in the first half, while Pablo Navarro nearly outrebounded the Wildcats by himself with 11 boards compared to 12 for CWU.
The Saints scored six unanswered points out of the halftime break, taking a 51-30 lead just over a minute into the second half. Saint Martin’s shot 56.3% in the second half and maintained its sizable lead throughout the remainder of the game.
Trejo-Delgado led the Saints with 19 points and added six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Navarro recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and 15 rebounds. Patrick Kilfoil added 13 points and dished four assists, while Watson tallied 12 points. Mark Clegg Jr. returned from injury and posted 10 points and six rebounds.
The Saints clinched a spot in the GNAC Championship Game for the first time since 2018. A win against Alaska Anchorage Saturday would mark the program’s first GNAC Tournament championship.
