Field Level Media
Nov 17, 2019
Jordan Ford scored 21 points to lead No. 18 Saint Mary's to a 79-48 rout of visiting Cal Poly on Sunday night at Moraga, Calif.
Malik Fitts added 12 points to help the Gaels (3-1) win their second straight game.
Tuukka Jaakkola had 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting to pace Cal Poly (1-3).
It didn't appear it would be a one-sided game when the Mustangs scored the game's first eight points. But the Gaels ended up leading by as much as 36 points in notching an easy victory.
It was Ford's third game of scoring 20 or more points this season.
Saint Mary's shot 53.8 percent and was 10 of 22 from 3-point range. The Gaels held a 36-24 rebounding edge.
The Mustangs shot 40.4 percent from the field, including 2 of 9 from behind the arc.
Cal Poly was just 4 of 12 from the free-throw line, compared to 13 of 16 for the Gaels.
Saint Mary's led 46-21 at halftime. Ford had 13 points and Fitts added 10 as the Gaels shot 64 percent in the half compared to the Mustangs' 35 percent.
The Mustangs led 17-15 after a 3-pointer by Mark Crowe with 9:30 left before the Gaels scored the next 11 as part of a half-ending 31-4 burst.
A dunk by Fitts gave Saint Mary's a 33-18 advantage with 4:55 left.
Cal Poly's Job Alexander scored on a putback with 4:19 left before the Gaels scored 13 of the final 14 points for the 25-point halftime edge.
The lead reached 30 early in the second half on Tommy Kuhse's basket with 18:16 remaining.
The lead crept up to 31 when Alex Ducas and Kristers Zoriks drained consecutive 3-pointers to make it 71-40 with 4:24 remaining.
Aaron Menzies' dunk with 1:01 left provided the game-high lead of 79-43.
--Field Level Media