Saint Mary's survives late drought, beats Utah Valley 65-50

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) Calvin Hermanson scored 16 points and Saint Mary's built a 23-point lead midway through the second half, then held on to take a 65-50 victory over Utah Valley on Monday night.

The Gaels (11-1) opened the game on a 22-4 run and pushed their second-half lead to 54-31 on Dane Pineau's layup with 8:34 left, but it was their final field goal in the game. Pineau hit a pair of free throws with 8:02 left to return the lead to 23 points.

Utah Valley (5-9) responded with a 12-0 run and Marcel Davis cut the lead to 10 points with a 3-pointer to made it 60-50 with 1:11 remaining, but the Wolverines did not score again.

Jaden Jackson finished with 16 points to lead Utah Valley.

Pineau scored 10 points and tied a career-high with 15 rebounds for Saint Mary's, which held a 40-16 advantage for points in the paint.