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December 5, 2007 Lacey, WA – Saint Martin’s overcame a 54-44 halftime deficit to defeat Pacific Lutheran University 92-86 in the final minutes of Wednesday night’s non-conference action at the SMU Pavilion. “The first half we had bad defensive pressure. They had one guy really hitting his shots and we weren’t chasing shooters out,” said Brendan Campbell. “In the second half we picked up the ball pressure and denial defense. Our increased intensity really led to better offense.” With 1:31 left in regulation and down by one, 86-85, Jake Linton hit a three to give the Saints the 88-86 lead. A turnover and a missed three would force the Lutes to foul with 16 seconds left. Tyler Nixon went to the line for the Saints and sank both shots to give Saint Martin’s the four point advantage. The Lutes would foul again and the Saints would pick up two more from Linton with just five seconds left to go securing the victory. The Saints shot 47.8 percent from the field though the Lutes were close behind at 43.5 percent. SMU took advantage at the line going 24-32 while PLU was just 14-18. “I thought Nick (Smith) came in and played really hard. Brendan and Bill played well picking up some key rebounds for us,” said Linton. “This game really just showed us that we have to bring our intensity right from the start.” Campbell and Linton led the Saints with 24 points each with Campbell adding eight rebounds. Bill Richardson had 14 points and seven rebounds while Michael McIver had 11 points. “Brendan showed the kind of toughness and leadership tonight that we expect from a senior,” said assistant coach Dan Barfoot. “The guys showed good mental toughness to battle back from a deficit and secure the win.” Josh Dressler posted a game high 38 points for Pacific Lutheran with nine rebounds and five assists. “Give PLU a tremendous amount of credit; they came focused and ready to play,” said head coach Keith Cooper. “Our depth maybe saved us tonight we had some key contributions from certain individuals. Tyler (Nixon) and Galen (Squiers) really stepped up defensively for us in the second half.” The Saints will take a short yet much needed break next week before returning to action on December 19th as they head to Portland to take on George Fox University.
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