Saint Mary's shakes off shooting slump to top Vanderbilt, 59-56
The Saint Mary's Gaels came from behind and hung on for a win against the Vanderbilt Commodores, moving on with a 59-56 win in the first round of the NCAA East Region in Cleveland.
The Gaels were hamstrung in the first half with a 3-point shooting slump that extended from their last game, a loss against Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference title game. Overall, Saint Mary's shot just 34.6% in the opening half (9-of-26).
Vanderbilt led by as many as 12 points before Saint Mary's led a steady second-half comeback while WCC Player of the Year Augustas Marciulionis sat on the bench after picking up his fourth foul just 3 minutes into the second half.
With 8:48 left, Marciulonis returned and his 3-pointer with 6:40 left gave Saint Mary's its first lead of the game. Vandy's Jason Edwards tied it up with a 3, but Marciulionis immediately hit another 3 to put the Gaels back in front with 4:23 left.
Luke Barrett buried a 3 at 2:03 to extend the lead to 6, the largest lead of the game for the Gaels.
The Commodores trailed by three in the closing seconds of the game but missed two chances to tie from the 3-point line, the second rebounded by Jordan Ross as time expired. Ross had a huge second half, scoring 13 of his team-leading 15 points. Marciulionis added 14 points.
Jason Edwards led Vanderbilt with had 18 points including a pair of 3's.
Saint Mary's (28-5) came into the game at Cleveland's Rocket Arena as the No. 7 seed against the No. 10 Commodores (20-12) and were 4.5-point favorites. The Gaels won the WCC regular-season title before their loss in the title game. Vanderbilt finished ninth in the Southeastern Conference but faced much stronger competition throughout the season.
The Commodores, led by first-year head coach Mark Byington, were making their first March Madness tournament appearance since 2017, while Randy Bennett is in his 24th year as the Gaels head coach.
The Gaels will now meet top-seeded Alabama in the round of 32. The Crimson Tide defeated Robert Morris earlier Friday.
