Despite trailing by just seven at halftime, the Gaels of St. Mary’s College of California upended the AU men’s basketball team by 59-44 at the beginning of the Eagles’ five-game road trip.
The final score did not reflect the Eagles’ (3-6, 0-0 PL) effort in the second half. AU was down only by four points with 6:29 remaining in the first half but was unable to close the deficit any further before the break.
St. Mary’s (8-0, 0-0 WCC) went on an 9-2 run to open up the second half and push its lead to 14 points. The Eagles were down by as many as 18 points and the closest the Eagles got in the second half was a nine point deficit. The 15-point margin of defeat is statistically the Eagles’ worst loss of the season against a very tough St. Mary’s team.
The Eagles were led by juniors Darius Gardner and Kyle Kager who combined put in 26 of the total 44 points on 11-17 shooting. The other nine Eagles to register playing time scored just 18 points on 7-26 shooting.
Conversely, the Gaels shot extremely well, going 22-of-41.
One area the Eagles were significantly taken advantage of in this contest was rebounding. The Eagles were outrebounded 37-19 resulting in 10 second chance points for the Gales.
The Eagles will stay in California for their next game as they take on the University of San Francisco on Dec. 22nd. AU doesn’t return home until Jan. 8th which begins conference play, starting with the Loyola (MD) Greyhounds.
