Gaels’ comeback goes for naught as Hilltoppers prevail
St. Mary’s trailed by 11 midway through the second half of its NIT firstround matchup against Western Kentucky on Wednesday night before rallying to take the lead in the final minute.
The Gaels, though, didn’t make the key plays down the stretch and they fell 6967 in Frisco, Texas.
With less than a minute remaining, Alex Ducas drained a 3pointer to put the Gaels (1410) in front 6765. It was their first lead since they were up 2019 midway through the first half.
On the ensuing possession, Conference USA Player of the Year Charles Bassey threw down a dunk to tie the score with 35 seconds left.
Then came the key sequence. After St. Mary’s ran down much of the shot clock, guard Tommy Kuhse dribbled down the right side but lost control of the ball and the Hilltoppers converted the turnover into two points.
Western Kentucky quickly got the ball upcourt, Taveion Hollingsworth drove into the lane and got fouled by Logan Johnson with 3.3 seconds remaining. Hollingsworth hit both of his freethrow tries and the Hilltoppers (217) were up by two. He scored a gamehigh 21 points.
The Gaels got the ball to Matthias Tass in the front court, but his long 3point attempt was not close, and St. Mary’s season was over.
The Gaels were making their 13th straight appearance in the postseason, with seven in the NIT and six in the NCAA Tournament.
Kuhse, a senior point guard, led the Gaels with 17 points — two on a buzzerbeater to end the first half — and a gamehigh 11 assists.
St. Mary’s also got doublefigure scoring from Tass (13 points) and Ducas (11).
Bassey, a 6foot11 center, had 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Hilltoppers don’t play again until next Thursday, when they face the winner of Friday’s matchup between Louisiana Tech and Mississippi.
In Wednesday’s other NIT game, Tyler Burton scored 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as Richmond (148) earned a 7666 win over Toledo (219) in Denton, Texas.
Because of the pandemic, the NIT this year has been trimmed from its usual 32 teams to 16. It also is taking place entirely in the Dallas area as opposed to the typical early rounds on campus sites and the semifinals and final at Madison Square Garden in New York.
This was Randy Bennett’s 20th season as the Gaels’ head coach. It began with a neutralcourt loss to Memphis before St. Mary’s put together an eightgame winning streak.
Near the end of that streak, the Gaels lost freshman Leemet Böckler and Ducas to injuries, Böckler’s was seasonending. The Gaels proceeded to lose four of their next five games, including their first three WCC games, all of which were in Moraga.
After seemingly righting the ship with road wins against LMU and USF, coronavirus issues forced the Gaels into a threeweek pause.
They returned with a 6058 loss at Pepperdine on Feb. 13, then split their final six games.