IDAHO FALLS, ID. — The Gaels are heading back to the Gem State, as for the third straight year, Saint Mary’s will meet up with Boise State in Idaho Falls’ Mountain America Center for a premiere neutral site non-conference clash. The Gaels have seen the Broncos twice in this venue in the last two seasons, dropping both contests by one possession, including an overtime thriller in last year’s rendition. This year’s contest will be played on December 14 with a 4 PM MST/3 PM PST tip off.
Like the Gaels, Boise State is widely recognized as a mid-major powerhouse, making the NCAA Tournament three times in the past four seasons. A year ago, the Broncos narrowly missed the tournament, but still put together a solid 26-11 campaign, eventually making it to the College Basketball Crown Semifinals. Leon Rice is back at the helm of the Boise State program, entering year 16 after serving as a long time assistant coach under Mark Few at Gonzaga. The Broncos return eight players from last year’s roster, headlined by starting forward Andrew Meadow and Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year Javan Buchanan.
A season ago, the Gaels and Broncos played in a defensive slugfest of an overtime thriller in Idaho Falls, with Boise State narrowly defeating Saint Mary’s 67-65. The Gaels fell behind by as many as 13 in the first half, but whittled the deficit down to six at the halftime break. Less than six minutes into the second half, the Gaels drew level with the Broncos at 37 apiece, and less than a minute later, had their first lead at 39-37. The two sides continued to trade blow after blow, but with 23 seconds remaining, Mikey Lewis buried a clutch three off of a feed from Augustas Marciulionis for what looked like the dagger. Boise State would draw a foul on the ensuing possession and knocked down both free throws to send the contest to overtime. Neither team ever led by more than one possession in a free throw shooting contest of an overtime period, but Boise State would convert on 6-8 of their attempts, while the Gaels would go just 4-5, as the Broncos salted away the two point victory. Of the returning players for both sides who played in last year’s contest, the Gaels were led by Andrew McKeever, who scored nine points and eight rebounds, while the Broncos saw Javan Buchanan go for 10 points and seven boards off the bench.
#GaelsRise
