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January 27, 2007 Lacey, WA – Saint Martin’s put together a solid night both offensively and defensively to defeat the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders 94-79 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Saturday afternoon at the SMU Pavilion. The Saints had five players in double figures on the night. Greg O’Neal led the charge with 21 points. Jake Linton posted another double-double night with 17 points and 10 assists. Tyler Nixon had 17 points and nine rebounds. Brendan Campbell added 14 points and Trevor Dunstan had 10. “We played together and played as one. With Stephon (Harris) out Tyler started and Charlie got in there early and did a good job. We pride ourselves on having fun and playing together,” said O’Neal. “We talked about how a lot of people will get ahead of themselves and think about the games that are further down the road. We think one game at a time and think of that game as the biggest game.” The Saints got themselves an eight point lead halfway through the first half. The Crusaders were able to pull within two with just over three minutes to go but the Saints were able to score some points and hold them off taking a seven point lead into the break. The Saints were up by nine early in the half only to see the Crusaders score 17 of the next 24 points to tie the game 56-56 with 9:21 left on the clock. The Saints quickly put up seven points, five by Nixon, to regain the lead. NNU pulled within two and the Saints again responded with a 15-3 run to go up by 14. The Crusaders began to foul. Northwest Nazarene fouled SMU eight times in the last 1:36 and the Saints took advantage going 11 for 15, giving them the 15 point lead and the win. “NNU is a very good shooting team,” said Joe Chirhart. “A lot of guys stepped up for us tonight. Tyler came up big, with Stephon out. This was a real team effort. We had fun and controlled the tempo the whole game, which was our goal.” Northwest Nazarene had four players in double figures. Justin Parnell posted 21 points with Marcus Clift adding 16 and Casey Fisher posting 11. Kendal Gielow had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. “I thought our kids played smart both offensively and defensively,” said head coach Keith Cooper. “NNU is a very good perimeter shooting team. They took some long shots that led to some long rebounds that they were able to capitalize on but our kids weathered the storm and played with composure. They are a good young team with two outstanding freshmen, Justin Parnell and Kendall Gielow who are two of the top three freshmen, and are very well coached.” The Saints shot 58.2 percent from the field to the Crusaders’ 37.7 percent. “Offensively we were very composed and solid on defense,” added Cooper. “Tyler, Greg and Trevor really stepped up to replace Stephon tonight. To play without him we had to play smart not just hard and we did a good job of that. Greg, who plays so many good games defensively, stepped up and scored for us tonight as did Tyler. The way Tyler played tonight was just a preview of the next two years. This was a good win for us.” The Saints get ready to head north to Alaska to take on both Fairbanks and Anchorage next weekend.
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