The Saint Mary’s Gaels struggled out of the gates, but put together a 23-7 run to close out the first half with a 30-24 lead over the Santa Clara Broncos. St. Mary’s is currently being paced by Mickey McConnell’s 13 points, with Mitchell Young behind him with five points. Kevin Foster is pacing Santa Clara with 10 points as only four players have scored for the Broncos.
After the Gaels scored the first two points of the game, Santa Clara went on a bit of a run and led 17-7 halfway through the first half. St. Mary’s only turned the ball over twice in the half, but poor shooting by most of the Gaels put them in an early hole. Clint Steindl, Rob Jones and Matthew Dellavedova combined to shoot 3-for-19 in the first half.
Once again it was Mickey McConnell who saved the day in the first twenty minutes. After the ten minute mark, McConnell got on the board with his first points of the game and added eleven more before the end of the half. With the Gaels trailing 17-7, McConnell single-handedly cut the lead to two points. He made a layup, a three-pointer, and then another lay-up with an and-one free throw to cut the lead to 17-15. He added a jumper with ten seconds left to give St. Mary’s the 30-24 lead they took into the half.