Saxen scores 20, Saint Mary's downs San Diego 85-58

Published Dec. 30, 2022 12:07 a.m. ET

Associated Press

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) — Mitchell Saxen's 20 points helped Saint Mary's defeat San Diego 85-58 on Thursday night to open West Coast Conference play.

Saxen added 10 rebounds for the Gaels (11-4). Aidan Mahaney scored 15 points while going 7 of 11 from the field. Alex Ducas shot 5 for 10, including 3 for 6 from beyond the arc to finish with 13 points.

The Toreros (7-8) were led by Bendji Pierre, who recorded 14 points and two steals. Wayne McKinney III added 14 points for San Diego. Eric Williams Jr. also had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Saint Mary's took the lead with 17:39 remaining in the first half and never looked back. Saxen led his team in scoring with eight points in the first half to help put them up 42-26 at the break. Saint Mary's pulled away with a 10-0 run in the second half to extend a 21-point lead to 31 points. They outscored San Diego by 11 points in the final half, as Saxen led the way with a team-high 12 second-half points.

NEXT UP

Both teams next play Saturday. Saint Mary's visits Santa Clara and San Diego visits San Francisco.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.