NCAA Game Summary - St. Mary’s-CA vs. Southern Illinois

Oklahoma City, OK (Basketball News) - Stetson Hairston had 13 points to lead the Southern Illinois Salukis past the St. Mary’s-CA Gaels, 65-56, in first round action of the NCAA Tournament from the Ford Center.

Matt Shaw added 12 points and nine rebounds and Darren Brooks scored 11, as the Salukis (27-7), seeded seventh in the Chicago Bracket, will play the second seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys in the second round on Sunday.

The Cowboys advanced earlier in the day with a victory over Southeastern Louisiana.

Daniel Kickert had 16 points to lead St. Mary’s (25-9), which was making just its fourth-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its first since 1997. Brett Collins added 13 points off the bench and Paul Marigney chipped in 12 in the losing effort.

Trailing by nine at the break, the Gaels scored the first four points of the second half to narrow the gap to five, 35-30. However, Southern Illinois quickly went back up by double-digits.

St. Mary’s again got the deficit to five with a little over 8:30 remaining on a Collins three-pointer. After the Salukis hit one-of-two free throws at the other end, another Collins basket made it 47-43.

Following a Southern Illinois turnover, Jonathan Sanders pulled the Gaels within two, before Collins tied the game at 47 by capping a 10-1 run with a layup in the lane.

The Salukis, though, erased any hopes of a storybook ending by scoring 10 of the next 12 points to take a 57-49 advantage with less than four minutes remaining in the contest.

St. Mary’s managed to get back within five a couple of times after that, but never really threatened after the late run.

Southern Illinois has now won 10 of its last 11 games with its only blemish over that stretch being a loss to Southwest Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals.

Trailing by two in the early going, the Salukis reeled of 14 straight points to go ahead 16-4. Tony Young’s three-pointer capped the surge with a little over 12 minutes to play in the first half, as St. Mary’s went over six minutes without scoring a point.

At one stretch of the crucial run the Gaels turned the ball over on six consecutive possessions. St. Mary’s committed 12 turnovers in the first half, which led to 14 Saluki points.

Southern Illinois continued to pour it on and went up 24-9, then 26-13 before heading into the locker room with a 35-26 advantage.

Randal Falker’s eight points paced the Salukis through the first 20 minutes, while St, Mary’s was led by Kickert’s 11 points.