Washington State upsets Saint Mary’s in meeting of unbeatens

FULLERTON, Calif., November 24, 2017 – Day two of the Wooden Legacy was off to a hot start as Washington State remained unbeaten and upset No. 21 Saint Mary’s, 84-79, handing the Gaels their first loss of the season.

Yesterday’s hero, sophomore Malachi Flynn, had the hot hand all game leading all scorers with a season-high 26 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds and four assists. Three other Cougars found their way into double-figures as junior Robert Franks finished with 15 points while sophomore Jeff Pollard and junior Kwinton Hinson each had 11 points for the day.

Saint Mary’s also saw four players reach double-figures led by redshirt senior Emmett Naar’s 17 points and game-high seven assists. Sophomore Jordan Ford was second on the team in scoring with 15 points while redshirt senior Calvin Hermanson put up 14, 12 of which came in the second half. Senior Jock Landale finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

The first half was a very high offense, high energy game as teams went back-and-forth exchanging buckets. With seven lead changes and four different times of a tie ballgame, both teams shot over 50% from the field as they battled. Led by Flynn’s 13 first half points and Naar’s 12 first half points, only two points separated the two teams at halftime. But it was Flynn’s Cougars leading it 42-40 at the break.

With less than five minutes to play, Washington State finished out a 13-1 scoring run that bumped their lead to their largest of the game at 16 points. But Saint Mary’s was not done yet, as in the span of a minute and 56 seconds, the Gaels went on a 9-0 run of their own and brought the deficit down to just three points with less than a minute to play. But a breakaway on the full-court press led to an easy layup from Pollard that sealed the victory for the Cougars.