SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Facing off against their Bay Area rival in the first of two matchups this season, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (12-9, 1-5 WCC) fought early against Saint Mary's (16-4, 5-0 WCC) on Saturday night, but ultimately fell to the Gaels, 78-61, at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Matching each other out of the gates, USF and Saint Mary's traded baskets to begin the evening before the Dons took an early three-point lead, 11-8, after Zane Meeks converted an and-one opportunity at 13:09.
• Finding their rhythm from beyond-the-arc, back-to-back threes from Marcus Williams and Tyrell Roberts put the green and gold up five, 20-15, at the 9:00 mark.
• Flipping the script in the final nine minutes, Saint Mary's responded by rallying off a 24-5 run throughout the rest of the first half as the Gaels held a 39-25 advantage heading into the break.
• Moving into the second half, USF stayed within striking distance of SMC as the action continued, including trimming their deficit to ten, 54-44, following a pair of free throws from Meeks at 10:15.
• Answering back once more, the Gaels then reeled off an 11-2 run across the next five plus minutes to widen the gap to nineteen points, 65-46, in favor of Saint Mary's.
• Continuing to fight down the stretch, Williams converted on a fast break layup with 2:41 remaining in regulation to bring the Dons back within ten, 66-56.
• Unfortunately, this is as close as USF would get in the closing minutes of the contest as Saint Mary's knocked down shots late to help secure the 78-61 road victory.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Offensively, Meeks (17 points, 8 rebounds), Isaiah Hawthorne (13 points, 5 rebounds) and Roberts (10 points, 6 rebounds) all finished in double figures on Saturday night. Notably, this trio went a combined 5-of-11 from deep while also pulling down 19 total rebounds.
• For Roberts, the graduate student from Sacramento continues to be a workhorse for USF as the versatile guard set a new season-high with 40 minutes played against the Gaels.
• As a team, USF led Saint Mary's in fast break points (11-5), bench points (13-3) and free throw percentage (75.0-58.3).  

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

• To view the full highlights of tonight's game, please click here.
• To view the full postgame interview with head coach Chris Gerlufsen, please click here. 

UP NEXT:
USF will remain at home next week as the Dons will welcome Pacific and BYU to the Hilltop as they continue conference play. Thursday's contest against the Tigers will air live on NBC Sports Bay Area and KNBR 1050 at game time while Saturday's contest against the Cougars will air live on CBS Sports Network and KNBR 1050 at game time. Live streaming, radio and live statistics links are available via the team's schedule page. Tickets to both games are also available via the team's schedule page and usfdons.com/tickets.
 
FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the USF men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.
 
MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Rep USF today by visiting the all-new USF Dons online store at www.usfdons.com/shop.
 
SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor - Provident Credit Union - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.