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February 22, 2007 Lacey, WA – Saint Martin’s couldn’t rebound from a slow early half as they fell to Seattle University 85-72 in their final home game of the season Thursday night at the SMU Pavilion. The Saints got off to a rocky start as the Redhawks opened up a 19-1 lead. They continued to increase the gap to 24 and took a 43-24 advantage into the break. The Saints fought their way back in the second half. With just under 14 minutes left to play the Saints went on a 15-4 run to pull within 10 only to see Seattle again go up by 19. But the Saints didn’t give in; with 7:41 on the clock they went on another run to pull within nine. That was as close as they would get, Mike Boxley split a pair of free throws to put the Redhawks back up by double digits where they would stay for the remainder of the game. “We came out flat and unfocused for whatever reason in the first half. After we woke up at halftime we played a good second half,” said head coach Keith Cooper. “We didn’t make shots; in the first half when they pulled away we were getting good shots but didn’t make them. In the second half the kids did a great job of battling. We had a total of four turnovers the entire half in a very fast paced game. Losing Stephon for the stretch that we did really hurt us. We’ve had guys playing too many minutes and it’s taking its toll. We looked tired both mentally and physically. I wish we had a little more depth but we just have to play it out.” Jake Linton put up 21 points for the Saints. He went 6-6 from the line and had 9 assists. Brendan Campbell added 19 points and Stephon Harris pulled down 11 rebounds. The Redhawks were led by Ryan Webb with 24 points. David White and Sam Kirby each had 12 while Ricky Berry added 10. On the night when the Saints honored their four seniors, Harris, Joe Chirhart, Greg O’Neal and Trevor Dunstan, Coach Cooper shared his appreciation. “I’m proud of our four seniors. They have left a stamp on this program and this school in a lot of positive ways. We led this conference for five weeks and have a team GPA over 3.0; they have shown the returners that it is possible to win at Saint Martin’s and what it takes to do it. I will be forever grateful for their contributions.” The Saints finish out the season with two road games. They will play Western Oregon next Thursday in Monmouth, OR.
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