Moraga, Calif. – Saint Mary’s College secured at least a share of the West Coast Conference (WCC) regular-season title Saturday night, defeating No. 9 Gonzaga 70-59 at UCU Pavilion. The victory was propelled by a career performance from Gaels guard Mikey Lewis, who scored 31 points, including seven 3-pointers.
The Gaels’ perimeter shooting proved decisive, with Saint Mary’s connecting on a season-high 16 shots from beyond the arc. They were 9 of 15 from distance in the second half alone, overcoming a seven-point halftime deficit. Gonzaga struggled to contain Lewis, who consistently found open looks and capitalized on them.
Despite limiting Saint Mary’s forward Paulius Murauskas to nine points on 2-of-10 shooting, Gonzaga could not overcome the Gaels’ outside attack. The Zags held Saint Mary’s to 21% shooting on 2-point attempts, but the volume of 3-pointers made proved too much to counter.
Joshua Dent contributed 14 points for Saint Mary’s, and Mantas Juzenas added 12. The win marks the Gaels’ 26th consecutive home victory and secures at least a share of the WCC regular-season title for the fourth consecutive year.
Gonzaga’s loss, their third of the season, could have implications for their NCAA Tournament seeding. However, the Zags have already clinched a share of the regular-season WCC title with an earlier win against Portland and will enter the conference tournament in Las Vegas as a top seed.
The game represented the final regular-season contest between the two programs at UCU Pavilion as members of the West Coast Conference. The future of the conference remains a topic of discussion as programs evaluate their options.
