Counting basketball in November?  It’s true. The Saint Martin’s men’s basketball kicks off the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season when they take on Central Washington tonight at Marcus Pavilion.

Saint Martin’s hasn’t hit the court since November 20th when they knocked off Northwest Christian 74-66 at home. Roger O’Neill scored 19 points including 13 points in the second half. Evan Coulter added 18 points, 14 of which came in the first half. The Saints shot 55.1% from the floor and will have to continue to shoot the rock well against the Wildcats.

Central Washington comes into the game at 4-1 and are coming off a 92-74 win over Walla Walla on Monday. Their only loss came to Azusa Pacific in overtime in their opener. The Wildcats did drop an exhibition game to Idaho, 92-75.

The Titans Wildcats feature seven Tacoma Community College transfers including preseason all-conference picks Mark McLaughlin and Jordan Coby. McLaughlin comes to Central after leading the NWAACC with 27.6 points per game and pulling down 8.1 boards per game.

McLaughlin’s journey has been fascinating. He originally committed to Washington State before his senior season at Inglemoor High School. He broke his commitment and signed with Nevada and then left Inglemoor for a New Hampshire prep school. When head coach Mark Fox left Nevada, McLaughlin was allowed to break his commitment and ended up signing with Baylor but left the school before the season and transferred to Seattle U.  He played just 17 games for the Redhawks and ended up in Tacoma for the 2010-2011 season. He played a full season and was named MVP of the west region and committed to the University of Washington but McLaughlin again suddenly broke his commitment and enrolled at Central where he leads the team and the GNAC with 25 points per game.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM and if you can’t make it to the Pavilion, you can listen to me call the game on the live webcast on SMUSaints.com.