11/27/25 04:22:00
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11/27 16:17 CST Murauskas scores 15 of his 19 in 2nd half and Saint Mary's
beats Virginia Tech at Battle 4 Atlantis
Murauskas scores 15 of his 19 in 2nd half and Saint Mary's beats Virginia Tech
at Battle 4 Atlantis
NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) --- Paulius Murauskas scored 15 of his 19 points in the
second half, when Joshua Dent scored 11 of his 14, and Saint Mary's beat
Virginia Tech 77-66 on Thursday in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.
Saint Mary's is 8-0 for the first time since the 2013-14 team started 9-0.
Saint Mary's led 31-20 at halftime after Virginia Tech went 7 of 33 from the
field (21.2%), including 1 of 15 from 3-point range. The Hokies rallied early
in the second half to get within 40-36 following a 12-3 run. But that's as
close as Virginia Tech would get the rest of the way.
Murauskas made a 3-pointer from the right corner to give Saint Mary's a 69-59
lead with 1:54 left. The Gaels went 6 of 6 at the free-throw line down the
stretch, with four makes from Dent, to stay in front.
Andrew McKeever also scored 14 points to go with eight rebounds for Saint
Mary's. Rory Hawke scored 10.
Amani Hansberry had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Virginia Tech (6-1). Neoklis
Avdalas added 13 points. The Hokies finished with seven 3-pointers on 30
attempts.
Up next
Saint Mary's: Advances to the championship game against Vanderbilt on Friday.
It will be a rematch of the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season when
the seventh-seeded Gaels beat the No. 10 seed Commodores 59-56.
Virginia Tech: Plays VCU in the third-place game on Friday.
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