MORAGA, CA – Holding a 52 to 37 advantage in field goal percentage, No. 22 Saint Mary's (20-5, 8-2 WCC) defeated the San Diego men's basketball team (13-12, 6-6 WCC) on Thursday, 86-57.
 
The Gaels ended the first half on a 20-3 run and scored the first eight points of the second. They also shot a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line in the contest.
 
Senior Marcellus Earlington led the Toreros with 14 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
 
Senior Jase Townsend added 10 points on two triples and 4-of-4 from the stripe.
 
San Diego drops to 13-12 (6-6 WCC) on the season, and will return home to face Pacific on Saturday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Josh Parrish buried a three from the corner to put USD up 7-4 early.
• Saint Mary's answered with a 13-2 run, including three triples.
• Buckets from Terrell Brown-Soares, Earlington, and Parrish brought the deficit back to two with 10:15 to play in the first half.
• After Calcaterra hit a three with 8:10 remaining, Saint Mary's ended the half on a 20-3 run. At the break, the Gaels led 42-21.
• Saint Mary's scored the first eight points of the second half to increase the run to 28-3. Two Earlington free throws and a Brown-Soares dunk ended the spurt.
• The Gaels took their largest lead of the game with 8:32 left, extending the advantage to 67-35 with a jumper.
• Townsend made a three-pointer and two free throws on consecutive possessions, followed by six straight points from Earlington.
• Freshman Muon Reath added a tip-in bucket with less than a minute remaining.

TORERO TIDBITS

• Earlington went into double-figures for the 19^th time this season. He ranks 11^th in the WCC with 13.8 PPG.
• Townsend scored 10+ points for the ninth time this season, which is tied for third on the team.
• Brown-Soares had four blocks in the first half alone. He has 61 on the season, which ranks fourth all-time. Brown-Soares also had a career-high three steals in the loss.
• Parrish and Vladimir Pinchuk each ended with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting.
• Saint Mary's shot 52.4% (33-63) from the field, 43.5% (10-23) from three, and 100% (10-10) from the free throw line. The Gaels also dished 17 assists and won the rebounding battle 37-25.

UP NEXT
San Diego returns home to face Pacific on Saturday. The Tigers hold a 16-9 lead in the all-time series, but USD won the most recent on January 22, 73-65. Earlington led USD with 23 points.