Instant Replay: SMC Falls Back to Earth, Beats Drake by 4
By Simon Tryzna
RB: “Don’t ever speak of this game again.” Carter: “Yes coach.” – At least that’s what I think. (courtesy of Andrew Nguyen)
This game can be summarized by the following tweet:
Saint Mary’s lost 18-pt second-half lead, but man are these upperclassmen good. Led the way even during cold shooting, saw off Drake 67-63.
Holt hit a key three, Waldow had some good blocks, and Levesque made some plays down the stretch. That’s about it. Gaels had the opportunity to run it with it and didn’t. All the credit to a young Drake team for coming back. They could make some noise in MVC (ESPN predicted them to finish in the cellar…).
Key fact of note, of all shots in the first half, 35% were from beyond the arc (first three games: avg around 26%). In the second half, that number jumped to 56%. Had the Gaels hit more than 22% of their threes on the night, then perhaps they could have put away the Bulldogs. They had open looks but failed to convert.
Four games in 8 days to start year could have been a factor as well…
Saint Mary’s gets some rest now before taking on Alcorn State next Sunday at home. Hopefully the second half of this game is a blimp on the road and not a sign of things to come.