Gaels Defeat Alcorn State, Leave Room for Improvement
By Simon Tryzna
If you ever need a 3-pointer off the bench, Pineau is your man (small sample size warning, photo courtesy of Andrew Nguyen)
The Saint Mary’s Gaels played their best basketball on Sunday against the visiting Braves from Alcorn State. However, their best basketball came when they put together a 33-8 run at the end of the first half and at the beginning of the second. The Gaels got off to a poor start, with the Braves taking a 15-8 lead. Down 20-16 with 11:41 left in the half, Saint Mary’s used a 26-8 run to run to take a 42-28 lead into halftime, before scoring the first seven points of the second half. However, in cruise control mode, the Gaels allowed the Braves to sorta hang in there, something that Randy Bennett wasn’t particularly a fan of after the game. “We’ve got to get better. We still can’t play 40 minutes consistent. We just do things that good teams don’t do,” Bennett said. “We had some moments where we played well tonight but we gave up two transition layups with six or seven minutes to go and we can’t do those things.”
Couple of key takeaways in the stats department:
Balanced minutes: Only Stephen Holt (32) played over thirty minutes. He had 12 points on 3-9 shooting. Kerry Carter had 25 minutes off the bench.
Player of the game: Kerry Carter had a cool 15 points and 8 rebounds on 5-7 shooting (3/5 from outside). The three pointers came with the flow of the offense, so the fact that the Gaels aren’t “chucking” them up is a positive.
Stat of the game: 12 – Saint Mary’s out-rebounded Alcorn State 49-23, yet only Garrett Jackson had rebounds in double figures – and he came in off the bench. Five of his twelve were offensive rebounds as well. The fact that the rebounds came from everyone is a good sign.
Is Dane the next Clint? To become a legit power forward, Dane Pineau has to bulk up a bit. In the meantime, he has such a nice shot, and on the season he is 3/4 shooting (very small sample size I know). Come conference play, he could be a boost off the bench with that shot. Something to keep an eye on going forward.
Next up for Saint Mary’s is a rematch with Murray State next Saturday, giving us plenty of time to enjoy Feast Week on ESPN.