MORAGA, Calif. — The Saint Mary's Gaels (4-5) led wire-to-wire, defeating the Cleveland State Vikings (6-4) in front of the home fans 70-56 on Tuesday evening. The Gaels used extreme physicality against a smaller Viking squad, imposing their will on the interior both offensively and defensively to build up an early lead, and then coast to the victory.
The Gaels asserted their dominance on both sides of the ball in the first half, scoring 30 of their 43 points in the paint, and holding the Vikings to just a 24% field goal percentage, including just a 16% clip from inside the arc.