Saint Mary’s takes down VCU in NCAA Tournament opener

By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)

ALBANY, N.Y. — In a battle between two defensive juggernauts, Saint Mary’s came out on top of VCU in a seesaw affair for the first half and counting before the fifth-seeded Gaels wore the Rams down for good, prevailing by the final of 63-51 in West Regional first round action. 

It was a defensive clinic for Saint Mary’s, forcing the Rams into 12 turnovers and shooting 22 percent from the field in the second half. The epitaph of the Gaels’ win was a 3-for-17 shooting performance from three and zero points from All-WCC first team selection Aidan Mahaney. 

Neither team got off to a good start in this game, and it took Saint Mary’s close to four minutes to get on the board. The Gaels settled in as senior Alex Ducas did. He had the opening two baskets for the Gaels, and later in the half, drilled a three that regained the lead at 19-17. 

Mitchell Saxen hit five field goals in the opening stanza, leading Saint Mary’s into the half with a 29-28 lead. He continued his heroics in the second half with the first two baskets of the final frame, and helped lay down the gauntlet on the defensive end with four blocks. Saxen finished with 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting alongside Ducas’ 17. 

VCU went back ahead for the last time at 30-29 after Jayden Nunn opened the second-half scoring. Once regaining the lead, Saint Mary’s kept cutting VCU slowly and eventually jumped out by 11 twice. Logan Johnson’s three in the closing minutes pushed it to 12 for good measure, which is where the game ended.

The turning point came when Ace Baldwin went down in pain with his team down 35-31. Things were never the same after that, and Baldwin’s campaign came to a close with a quiet 12 points. Head coach Mike Rhoades confirmed after the game that the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year suffered an Achilles injury.

“It affected us a lot for sure,” Brandon Johns, Jr. said.

Johnson, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, was held to 12 points and had five turnovers. He wasn’t able to get out in transition like he does best, with the exception of a dunk off the fast break that stemmed from a VCU turnover. The Rams did a solid job slowing down the Gaels, but it wasn’t enough.

“It was a gritty game,” Saint Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett said. “And we just kind of outlasted them a little bit and were able to hang on.” 

The Gaels were proficient with pickpocketing the Rams all game, making it business as usual for the sixth-best defense in the country. 

“No matter what our defense should travel with us and it did tonight,” Bennett said. “That won us this game, and it starts with your seniors.”

Saint Mary’s will play No. 4 seed UConn in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.