Boise State
7-3,0-0Mountain West
Saint Mary's
9-2,0-0WCC
Boise State Beats Saint Mary’s in Overtime Thriller
12/14/2024 11:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — In an overtime thriller featuring seven ties and four lead changes, Boise State defeated Saint Mary's, 67-65, on Saturday night in a neutral site game at Mountain America Center.
With the win, the Broncos improved to 7-3 on the season while handing the Gaels (9-2) their second loss of the 2024-25 campaign. Saturday's victory marked the first time Boise State won an overtime game at a neutral site since beating Houston, 75-73, on Dec. 22, 2014.
Four Broncos scored in double figures and the team was led by Tyson Degenhart who scored a game-high 19 points. Alvaro Cardenas tallied 14 points, four rebounds and four assists, while O'Mar Stanley—13 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocks—collected his seventh career double-double and second this season.
Javan Buchanan shot 4-of-5 from the field and totaled 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Andrew Meadow added nine points in his return to the starting lineup.
Augustas Marciulionis paced the Gaels with 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Luke Barrett had 13 points and seven rebounds in the game for Saint Mary's.
Boise State found early offensive success, making its first three shot attempts. Serving as the catalyst, Cardenas scored the first six points of the game and propelled the club to an 11-4 lead at the outset.
The Broncos extended their early advantage and opened up a double-digit lead on a layup by Buchanan. Boise State shot 10-of-19 to begin the game and led 25-15 with just over six minutes remaining in the first half.
Claiming its largest lead of the first half, Boise State went up 13 on a deep three pointer by Buchanan with 4:22 left to play in the opening half. The Gaels, however, responded in kind and closed the first half on a 9-2 spurt.
In total, the Broncos shot 50 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes and were led by Cardenas, Buchanan and Degenhart who scored 22 of the team's 32 first-half points. Boise State shot 3-of-6 from three, out rebounded Saint Mary's 18-11 and led 32-26 at the intermission.
To start the second half, the Gaels outscored Boise State 11-5 in the first six minutes. Erasing what was once a 13-point deficit, Saint Mary's evened the score at 37 on a three pointer by Jordan Ross.
Following a missed three-pointer by Degenhart on the ensuing possession, Mitchell Saxen nailed a jumper and gave the Gaels their first lead of the night, 39-37. Spanning nearly eight and a half minutes to start the second half, the Broncos scored just six points.
Saint Mary's eventually led by five—their largest of the night—before Boise State rattled off five consecutive points to tie the ballgame at 43. The Broncos scored eight unanswered points and retook a three-point lead with just over eight minutes to play in the game.
Down the stretch, the two teams were deadlocked on multiple occasions. Trailing by two with 11.5 seconds remaining, Degenhart knocked down a pair of clutch free throws which ultimately sent the game into overtime.
In the extra session, Boise State held Saint Mary's to 1-of-6 shooting. Four of the Gaels' six points in overtime came from the free throw line.
Three different players accounted for the Broncos' eight points, including Meadow who knocked down three free throws to help lead Boise State to victory.
With five seconds on the clock, Saint Mary's had a chance to tie the game and send it to double overtime. Marciulionis missed the game-tying layup which sealed a 67-65 Boise State win.
Just two days in between games for the Broncos as the team hosts Texas Southern on Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. MT at ExtraMile Arena.
NOTES
With the win, Boise State has won nine of the 15 all-time meetings, including three straight, against the Gaels dating back to 1979.
The Broncos are 3-1 against Saint Mary's in Head Coach Leon Rice's 15-year tenure.
Rice is now three wins away from 300 in his career as a head coach.
Boise State captured its third neutral site overtime win in program history and first since Dec. 22, 2014 against Houston.
Posting 13 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocks, O'Mar Stanley collected his seventh career double-double and second this season.
RJ Keene made his first career start at Boise State and logged career highs in minutes (30) and blocks (2).
Tyson Degenhart scored a game-high 19 points and scored in double figures in all 10 games this season.
Degenhart tied his season high with eight made free throws.
Javan Buchanan grabbed a season-high seven rebounds in the game.
