Gaels Lose Heartbreaker To Memphis, Eliminated From NCAA Tournament
By Mike Rose
The Gaels season ended off a tough two point loss to Memphis this afternoon ending a very solid season. The Gaels finish the year at 28-7 and head back to Moraga. This is the sixth straight year of 25 plus wins for the Gaels.
Memphis advances to the 3rd round of the NCAA’S and jumps to 31-4 for their season.
The first half was a tough start for the Gaels today. Their offense never got off the ground as they struggled to keep pace with the Tigers late in the first half. They Gaels were able to go ahead 11-9 with with 10:37 to play in the half. The Gaels fell down by as many as 15 as the Tigers went on a 19-2 run. The Tigers outscored the Gaels 23-11 in the remainder of the half. The Gaels went to the locker room down 10; 32-22. The Gaels overall shot just 31% from the floor in the first half and went 0-6 from three point land.
The second half was almost a spectacular comeback for the Gaels. The Gaels battled in the second half never giving up the fight. They chipped into the Tigers lead and were down by four 44-40 with 5:29 to play. Memphis was able to re-take the lead to nine off a quick 5-0 run. The Gaels would not give up. In the last 4 seconds the Gaels almost had a miracle come-back victory.
With Memphis ahead 54-49, Eividas Petrulis banked in a 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds to play. This brought the game to 54-52. The Tigers lost the ball on their inbound pass with a Jordan Giusti deflect of the pass.
Saint Mary’s was out of timeouts but were given a break by the officials who decided to review the previous play. Dellavedova, was able to get a last second three point shot off for the win, but the shot was way off and the game ended. It was a heart-breaker for the Gaels and a huge relief for the Tigers.
Statistically, the Gaels finished their season going 19-58 (32.8%) from the floor. They were 3-15 (20.0%) from behind the arc.
Leading the way in scoring for the Gaels was Brad Waldow who scored 17 points. Matthew Dellavedova was able to put up 10 on a rough afternoon. Mitchell Young finished his career scoring nine. Off the bench, Beau Levesque had seven. Jordan Giusti , got the start for the injured Jordan Page and had four with another solid defensive performance.
For the game, Memphis shot 20-49 (40.8%) from the floor and was 5-15 (33.3%) from beyond the arc.
For Memphis Joe Jackson led the way with 14 points. Adonis Thomas and Tarik Black both had 12.
The Gaels now look ahead and say good bye to some outstanding seniors. Look to the Gaels to bring a strong force to the WCC’s next season as coach Randy Bennett looks for his 7th straight season of +25 wins.