Going out fighting: Senior Augustas Marciulionis finishes with 1,227 points and 504 assists. / Photo by David Richard/AP
Gaels’ Historic Season Comes to an End in NCAA Tournament Second Round Against AlabamaÂ
This was one of the best ever for Saint Mary’s. Most conference wins, fourth back-to-back NCAA appearance, third season title in a row. And the Gaels did it with the same starting lineup in all 35 games.
Making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years, the Saint Mary's Gaels (29–6) squared off with the second seeded Alabama Crimson Tide (27–8) on Sunday evening at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line. Facing the best scoring offense in college basketball, the Gaels were able to hold Alabama 11 points below their season average. But a sluggish offensive first half prevented Saint Mary’s from completing their second double-digit comeback of the tournament—like they had against Vanderbilt on Friday—and they eventually fell to Alabama 80–66.
The historic 2024–25 season has now come to an end. The Gaels hold an impressive 29-6 record, the second most wins in a single season in program history.
Mitchell Saxen led all scorers with 15 points. The fifth-year senior played 39:13 of 40 minutes, shot 7–12 from the field, reeled in five boards, and poked away three steals. Fellow big man Harry Wessels finished with 12 points and a team-high eight boards and three blocks. This dynamic duo found their way on the court together down the stretch throughout the season. And Sunday evening, like most nights this year, they were a force to stop in the paint against the Crimson Tide. Augustas Marciulionis rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points and a team-high four assists. The 80 points that the Gaels held the Crimson Tide to was the second-fewest Alabama has scored against a mid-major program.
Trying to Stem the Tide
Through the first eight minutes, Saint Mary’s matched Alabama play for play, and at the second media timeout of the game, the Gaels and Crimson Tide found themselves deadlocked at 13 apiece. In those opening eight minutes, five different Gaels combined for the first 13, with Harry Wessels serving as the high man with four. An 8–0 Crimson Tide run over the next 90 seconds demonstrated their quick strike ability, and while the Gaels clawed back to within three at 24–21, Alabama continued to convert at a high offensive clip, finishing the half on an 18–8 run over the final 7:22 to take a 13 point lead into halftime, 42–29.
More than half of the Gaels’ scoring in the first half was made up by the big man duo of Mitchell Saxen and Harry Wessels. Wessels led the way with nine, including a 5–6 clip from the stipe, while Saxen scored seven on 3–5 shooting, while reeling in a team-high four boards and nabbing a pair of steals. In a rather intriguing statline, the Gaels took seven more shots than Alabama in the first half but made seven fewer baskets. The field goal attempt discrepancy was due in big part to the Gaels finishing the half with no turnovers to Alabama’s eight, and SMC bringing down seven offensive rebounds. Unfortunately, the Gaels could not capitalize on these advantages.
After the Gaels fell behind 13 at the half, they made an epic effort to claw their way back. The entire second half mimicked the first eight minutes of the first half, as the Gaels and Crimson Tide once again looked extremely evenly matched, with Bama narrowly outscoring SMC 38–37 in the second stanza. The Gaels jumped out on a 12–6 run to cut the deficit to seven at the 15:47 mark, as Jordan Ross and Mitchell Saxen each scored four in that stretch. Ross and Saxen looked like they would shoulder the load for the Gaels in the second half, like they did two days before against Vanderbilt. But closing the gap to seven was as close as the Gaels would get. The deficit wavered between eight and 14 throughout the half, and eventually settled at 14 when the final horn sounded.
Jordan Ross, Augustas Marciulionis, and Mitchell Saxen all scored eight points in the second half. The Gaels showed positive strides offensively: They made seven more shots, including their first three three-pointers, and scored nine more points in the second half than they did in the first. They saw their shooting percentage improve from 25% in the first half to 44.1% in the second, and their three-point percentage improve from 0% to 37.5% in the second. On the rebounding front, Saint Mary's ripped down four more second-half rebounds than they did in the first half and cut a -10 rebounding margin in half by the end of the contest.
Defensively, Alabama was limited to four fewer points in the second half, and the Crimson Tide saw their field goal percentage drop off 4% and their three-point percentage drop off 14% in the second frame. But all of this was not enough to dig the Gaels out of the double-digit deficit.
Let’s Hear It for the Seniors
There was no question that seniors Augustas Marciulionis, Mitchell Saxen, and Luke Barrett left absolutely everything on the floor. Barrett scored six points and was tremendous on the glass with seven boards, including three offensive. This was indicative of how Barrett played all season, averaging 2.6 offensive boards per game and consistently sacrificing his body in high-effort hustle plays, also coming up with two steals.
The 11 points for Marciulionis bring him to 1,227 for his Saint Mary’s career—good enough for 23rd all-time with the Gaels. His four assists move him to 504—fourth all-time with SMC. Mitchell Saxen closed out his Gael career with a performance that included 15 points, five rebounds, and three steals. He earns the distinction of the most games ever played in SMC history (156) and most games won in SMC history (116). His 1,341 points rank 17th, his 544 field goals made rank 10th, his 927 rebounds rank third, and his 156 blocks rank third.
This Was a Special Season
Watching it unfold, it was clear the 2024–25 season was one of the best ever by Saint Mary’s Men’s Basketball. Take a look at Gaels history books, and you’ll see just how special this regular season was. The Gaels finished at 29–5. Their 27–4 record heading into the postseason matched their best regular season record from 2017–18, in which the Gaels finished with their only 30 wins in program history.
Their 17–1 conference record this season was the best ever, both by win volume and win percentage. It topped their two 16–2 seasons in 2016–17 and 2017–18 for volume, and their 15–1 season last year for percentage. The Gaels won the WCC by three games, their largest margin for a regular season title, besting 1988–89 and 1958–59, when they won the conference by a two-game margin.
The Gaels made it their fourth straight NCAA Tournament—something that has never been done before in a four-year stretch. They made it back to the NCAA Round of 32 for the third time in the past four years, also a feat that had never been accomplished before in SMC history.
Looking at some of the individual standout performances, Luke Barrett played 1,278 minutes during the season, the fourth most ever in a single season. Augustas Marciulionis finished with 208 assists, good for sixth most all-time. The Gaels had two players surpass the 1,000 point mark—Marciulionis and Mitchell Saxen.
Finally, let’s talk consistency: They finished with the same exact starting lineup in every game this year, one of just two teams in the NCAA this year to claim that distinction.
