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The first half was a clinical cakewalk for the Saint Mary's Gaels.
The second was anything but.
They move on to talk about the future of this banner season.
Barely.
The No. 7 Gaels withstood a furious second-half rally from No. 10 seed VCU to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with an 85-77 win over the Rams on Thursday evening at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Saint Mary's had four players in double figures in the win, highlighted by junior big man Jock Landale, who had 18 points, 13 rebounds and played every minute of the game. Senior point guard Joe Rahon and junior forward Calvin Hermanson both chipped in 16 points. Freshman guard Tanner Krebs had 12 points off the bench, all in the first half.
"We're happy to get this one done," Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett said.
A double-digit lead early in the second half evaporated on the Gaels when the Rams dialed up the defensive pressure. As did Saint Mary's precise offensive attack that gave it a 15-point halftime lead. VCU's full-court press forced the Gaels into 15 turnovers, flipping the game on its head four minutes into the second half.
Where the Rams couldn't pick up on the Saint Mary's sets in the first half, they adjusted in a flash. A 3 minute, 30 second scoring drought allowed VCU to go on a 15-2 run to whittle what once was a 17-point deficit to 56-54.
"They're hard to put away," Bennett said. "We couldn't put them away."
Not at first, at least. But Rahon and Hermanson eventually answered.
Rahon managed the final 11-plus minutes of the game with four fouls after picking up an offensive one early in the second half. The fifth-year senior didn't have to make a grandiose speech to Bennett to get him back in the game as soon as possible. Asked to describe what he saw from VCU's run in the second half, Bennett said, "I was seeing Joe wasn't out there, so that was a problem."
"I tried to convince him to not take me out in the first place," Rohan joked.
"I rolled the dice," Bennett added.
Rohan rewarded his coach. His deep 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down increased the Gaels' lead to 63-56 with 8:19 remaining. As the Rams kept cutting into the lead, the Gaels wouldn't allow them to get much closer.
Hermanson hit a deep 3-pointer to put Saint Mary's up 70-62 with 5:18 left.
The exclamation point came from Hermanson, too. The 6-foot-6 junior from Lake Oswego, Ore., finished a fast break on his own by rising up and viciously throwing down a left-handed dunk that got the Saint Mary's faithful on their feet — a rarity in the second half.
"I saw the open court in front of me," Hermanson said. "I thought I've got to get up there and put it down as quick as I could because the shot blocker was coming. He couldn't catch up, and it turned out to be a nice play."
The Gaels closed the second half without a field goal over the last 4:34.
VCU senior guard JeQuan Lewis, who spearheaded the Rams' charge back from a double-digit deficit, had a game-high 30 points on 12-of-28 shooting.
The game slowed to a screeching halt as VCU tried to stay within striking distance. The Rams were called for 32 fouls, putting the Gaels on the free-throw line 39 times.
Twitter: @chriskamrani