Nov. 10, 2007

Moraga, CA - On opening night for the 2007-08 Saint Mary's men's basketball team, the Gaels posted an 82-57 win over the Sonoma State Seawolves as part of the Saint Mary's Tip-off classic from McKeon Pavilion. Diamon Simpson led the Gaels with his eighth career double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

It was also the debut of highly touted Australian recruit Patrick Mills, and he did not disappoint the 2,253 fans that attended the freshman's first collegiate game. Mills was the first freshman since Daniel Kickert in 2002 to start his first college game. Mills scored 17 points, shooting 5-of-8 from the floor, dished out five assists and had four steals.

Saint Mary's (1-0) had five players score in double figures as sophomore center Omar Samhan had 12 points and eight rebounds and senior guard Tron Smith also added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

SMC's first basket of the game came off a driving lay-up by Mills just 13 seconds into the game, Simpson then added a dunk on the next SMC possession and then followed that with the Gaels' first 3-pointer of the year to give the Gaels a 7-1 lead just 1:25 into the game. A basket by Samhan gave the Gaels a 9-1 lead, one that the Gaels would not relinquish.

Saint Mary's opened a 20-7 lead following bucket by Mills at the 12:49 mark, but the Seawolves responded with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to six points following a Blake Saunders three. SMC followed the SSU run with an eight point run of its own that included five points by Tron Smith and a three by Todd Golden. The Gaels held a double-digit lead the rest of the way, and led 41-25 at halftime.

Like the first half, Mills scored the first basket for the Gaels, this time it was his first 3-pointer as a Gael. SMC took a 21-point lead (56-34) when Smith scored converted a three-point play with 14:06 remaining in the game. Saint Mary's would lead by as many as 28 points when Samhan converted a 3-point play with 4:32 on the clock.

The Gaels shot 51.8 percent from the floor, making 29-of-56 shots overall. SMC hit on 10-of-26 three-point attempts, shooting 38.5 percent from beyond the arch. SMC held Sonoma State to 34.4 percent shooting in the game and 33.3 percent shooting from 3-point land.

SMC, which finished 20th in the country in blocked shots last season, setting a WCC and school record with 174 blocks, recorded nine blocks in the first game. Simpson, who had 79 blocks last season, had five to open his junior campaign.

Saint Mary's will return to the hardwood on Saturday night with a 7:30 pm game against the Drake Bulldogs of the Missouri Valley Conference. In its first game of the season, Drake defeated the UC San Diego Tritons 81-63 in the opening game of the Saint Mary's Tip-off Classic.