St. Mary's opens season with easy win

Moraga, CA – The Saint Mary's men's basketball team got the 2008-09 season started on the right foot with an 86-55 win over the Seattle Pacific Falcons in front of a sell-out crowd at McKeon Pavilion. The Gaels used timely shooting and pressure defense to cruise to the win over the Division II opponent.

The Gaels used the entire bench, as 12 players took the court in the season opener, and 11 of the 12 had at least two points. SMC had three players in double figures with Olympian Patrick Mills and Omar Samhan leading the way with 15 points each. Carlin Hughes added 11 points and Diamon Simpson chipped in with nine.

Mills and Hughes were pressing the Falcons' defense all night, as the two combined for 15 of the 19 assists by the Gaels. Mills finished with eight assists and four steals in 25 minutes, while Hughes has seven assists and a pair of steals in 23 minutes.

Samhan was just two rebounds shy of a double-double, as he had eight rebounds and a game-high five blocked shots. Simpson had a game-high nine rebounds and Ian O'Leary finished the game with six points and eight rebounds, with six boards coming on the offensive glass. O'Leary also added two assists, two steals, and one blocked shot.

Saint Mary's got out to a quick start, taking a 12-3 lead over the first three and a half minutes. The Falcons clawed back into the game, closing the deficit to 3-points (18-15) with about eight and a half minutes left in the half. From there the Gaels exploded for an 18-0 run that was sparked by a Patrick Mills 15-foot jumper at the 8-minute mark.

With SMC leading 22-15, the freshman from Queensland, Australia, Cliint Steindl, hit back-to-back threes for his first points as a Gael. Steindl finished the game with eight points in 17 minutes of action. Saint Mary's finished the first half with a 41-19 advantage.

In the second half, Saint Mary's continued to extend its lead. SMC held a 68-38 advantage when Ben Allen, who finished with four points and four rebounds in his Saint Mary's debut, hit a pair of free throws at the 10:27 mark. SMC's lead would reach 40-points at 83-43 when Lucas Walker scored a bucket with 3:48 remaining.

Saint Mary's will return to action on Monday night when the Gaels host the Fresno State Bulldogs in a late night affair. The game between the Gaels and Bulldogs will tip-off at 11 p.m. from McKeon Pavilion and will be televised on ESPN. The game can be seen on ESPN in Australia on Wednesday at 2am and 10pm on tape delay.

Saint Mary's vs. Seattle Pacific Game Notes

- The Gaels continue their streak of at least one three per game to 475 games.
- Clint Steindl's first two points as a freshman came from a break away two handed dunk off a behind the back assist from Hughes.
- Randy Bennett is now 76-30 in McKeon Pavilion, and the Gaels improve to 37-6 against non-conference in the last five year, and 16-2 in the 18 home games against non-conference opponents.
- Saint Mary's has played Seattle Pacific eight times since 1968, SMC leads the series 5-3.
- Patrick Mills and Omar Samhan finished with a team high of 15 points each.
- Samhan finished with a game high of 5 blocks. The five blocks marked just the second time in his career the he has had five or more in a game.
- Carlin Hughes had a season high of seven assists, which is one shy of his career high.
- Patrick Mills ties his career high with eight assists.

Southern Utah signs 2 Aussies for 2008-09

Southern Utah's men's basketball team signed a pair of Australian centers to National Letters of Intent Wednesday, Matt Hodgson and Nathan Crombie, who will join the Thunderbirds next year as freshmen. 

Hodgson is a 6-foot-10, 225-pound center from Booval, Queensland, while Crombie is a 7-foot, 200-pound center from Carina, Queensland. Both are members of the Australian Junior National Institute Team.

Nate Bendall will rejoin the Utah State program beginning in the 2009-10 season. Bendall, a 6-foot-8 forward, will have two years of eligibility at USU. 
He is currently a sophomore at Salt Lake Community College.  As a freshman at Utah State during the 2005-06 season, Bendall averaged 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in 13 games

 

 

How long will Iliadis be out?

by Jamie Frankenberry

 

Looks like Old Dominion's Trian Iliadis, a freshman guard from Australia, will miss a few more weeks as he recovers from a stress fracture in his right foot.

 

Iliadis is off crutches, but he still wears a protective boot (which, by the way, has been dubbed "Lucky"). And he's still limping noticeably. When he was introduced before Sunday's Blue-White scrimmage, Iliadis' jog turned into a gingerly walk.

 

Iliadis said afterward the prognosis looks "really good" after visiting the doctor last week.

"He felt around with it and it's a lot better than it was a couple weeks ago," Iliadis said. "In a couple weeks I'll be getting an X-ray and CAT scan on my foot. The doctor said the healing was coming along really well."

 

Still, it's too early to tell just how long Iliadis will be sidelined.

 

"The doctor doesn't have anything in mind without seeing the X-ray and CAT scan," he said. "I'm hoping to play soon. I want to be out there sooner, but ..."

 

Iliadis has been on the shelf since before the Monarchs began practice. He watched Sunday's scrimmage from the bench.

 

"It's pretty tough," Iliadis said. "I've gotten to think about it a long time. It's been good just to watch as well to see how everybody plays, but I just want to get out there."

 

Youthful exuberance

 

Here's what ODU coach Blaine Taylor had to say about his young roster, which features 10 underclassmen, after Sunday's Blue-White game.

 

"I just like our demeanor. We're enjoying being part of this program, we're enjoying being part of this campus, we're enjoying our recent history and we're enjoying the challenge of together trying to really be a good team and do something as the season unveils."

 

"We've just got to get under the lights more often, and as that happens we're going to have a lot of fun just seeing how far we can go."

 

 "We really need to make sure that we embrace our youth. I don't want any excuses, but we need to embrace it: 'Hey, we're good and we're going to be around for a long time.' "

 

 

 

St. Mary's Part of ESPN's Tip-Off Marathon

Bristol, CT – The Saint Mary’s men’s basketball team will participate in the inaugural College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon presented by ESPN on November 18th. The Gaels will take on Fresno State in the second game of the marathon, which will tip-off at 11 p.m. Pacific Time (Nov 19th - 6pm Sydney) from McKeon Pavilion. The game is scheduled to air on ESPN Australia (time tbd).

“Saint Mary’s is excited to build on its relationship with ESPN and increase the national exposure of our men’s basketball program, the College and the West Coast Conference,” said Saint Mary’s Director of Athletics Mark Orr.

“It’s very exciting to be associated with ESPN and an event like this to kick-off the season,” said head men’s basketball coach Randy Bennett. “To play against a program with the rich basketball tradition like Fresno State with a national television audience, will make for an exciting evening of basketball in Moraga.”