Paulius Murauskas scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the second half as Saint Mary’s beat Virginia Tech 77-66 on Thursday in a battle of unbeatens to advance to the Battle 4 Atlantis final at Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Andrew McKeever and Joshua Dent added 14 points apiece and Rory Hawke had 10 points for the Gaels (8-0), who will face No. 24 Vanderbilt (7-0) in the championship game on Friday. The Commodores beat VCU 89-74 on Thursday afternoon.
Saint Mary’s led wire-to-wire and held Virginia Tech (6-1) to 30.9% shooting from the field that included just 7-of-30 shooting (23.3%) from 3-point range.
Amani Hansberry led the Hokies with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Jaden Schutt scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half and Neoklis Avdalas finished with 13 points for Virginia Tech, which faces VCU in the third-place game on Friday morning.
Virginia Tech was outscored 38-22 on points in the paint while playing without starting forward Tobi Lawal, who sat out with a lower-body injury. Lawal averages 12.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.
Jailen Bedford was limited to two points after scoring a team-high 17 points in Virginia Tech’s 66-64 quarterfinal win over Colorado State on Wednesday. He missed all 10 of his shots from the field.
The Hokies pulled within 65-59 on Tyler Johnson’s putback with 4:13 remaining, but trailed by 10 after Murauskas drilled a 3-pointer with 1:54 left to give Saint Mary’s a 69-59 lead.
Schutt’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to 69-64 with 1:26 left before the Gaels closed on an 8-2 run to seal the victory in the first meeting between the teams.
Saint Mary’s sprinted to a 12-2 lead before Virginia Tech answered with a 7-0 run. The Gaels maintained their lead and moved ahead 26-14 on Dillan Shaw’s 3-pointer with 5:17 left in the half.
The Hokies missed their first 12 3-point attempts before Ben Hammond’s trey cut the Gaels’ lead to 26-18 with 3:32 left in the half.
Saint Mary’s held a 31-20 advantage at intermission after holding Virginia Tech to 21% shooting from the field, including 7% (1 of 15) from beyond the arc.
After the Gaels extended their lead to 37-24 early in the second half, Johnson’s 3-pointer capped a 7-0 run to pull Virginia Tech within 40-36 with 13:28 remaining.
Saint Mary’s quickly regained control and moved ahead 65-53 on Murauskas’ layup with 5:54 left to play.
The 7-foot-3 McKeever also had eight rebounds and two blocks for Saint Mary’s, which opened tournament play with a 70-65 victory over Wichita State on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
