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.

Women’s basketball

Saint Martin’s 62, Northwest Christian 48

Chelsea Haskey was held scoreless in the first half but exploded for 18 points in the second half to lead Saint Martin’s to a 62-48 win over Northwest Christian in the Saints home opener on Tuesday night.

Haskey played just three minutes in the first half and the Saints led by two points, 23-21, going into the locker room. Freshman Ciara Pedroni picked up the slack by scoring 10 points in the first and finished with a career high 13 points.

But Haskey, a Black Hills alum, went 8-for-14 in the final 20 minutes scoring 18 points while pulling down six rebounds giving the Saints their first win of the season. Brooke Paulson and Erika Wilson each added seven points in the win.

Lindsey Shearer scored 13 points with nine rebounds for Northwest Christian, who fell to 5-3 on the season. Tumwater’s Haley VandenHazel scored three points in limited duty for the Beacons.

Men’s basketball

Saint Martin’s 74, Northwest Christian 66

Roger O’Neill hit three big three pointers in the second half and Evan Coulter scored 18 points and Saint Martin’s came away with a 74-66 win over Northwest Christian at Marcus Pavilion. O’Neill scored 13 points in the second half and finished with a team high 19 on the night pushing the Saints record to 3-2 on the season.

The Saints shot a blistering 60% in the first half but not to be outdone, the Beacons almost matched them shooting 59.1%. It took a layup from Coulter with seconds to play to give the Saints the 37-35 lead at the half. Coulter scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half.

After trading the lead for the first few minutes of the second half, three pointers by Brady Bomber and O’Neill eventually gave the Saints the lead for good. Matt Dodson scored 12 points and pulled down eight boards and Rei Jensen added ten points while Bomber chipped in six assists to go along with his nine points.

Wyatt Taboh-Graziano scored 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds for the Beacons, who fell to 5-3 this season.

The Saint Martin’s basketball teams kick off the home portion of their schedule with a non-conference doubleheader against Northwest Christian beginning with the women at 5:15 PM and continuing with the men at 7:30.

The women come into tonight’s game at 0-2 in counting games, dropping both of their contests in Monmouth, Oregon on November 9th and 10th. The Saints did pick up a win against Evergreen, 47-37, last week. The Saints are led by sophomore Brooke Paulson’s 15.5 points per game while Black Hills graduate Chelsea Haskey is chipping in 12.5 points per game.

Northwest Christian has already played seven games this season and are 5-2. Tumwater’s Haley VandenHazel is a freshman with the Beacons averaging 3.7 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game.

The men will play their first counting game away from the PE Building at Western Oregon where they went 2-2 in two invitationals. Roger O’Neill scored 24 points in their last game on Saturday, a 61-45 win over Notre Dame de Namur and Eric Taylor leads the Saints with a 19.5 points per game average after posting 28 points in an 86-84 loss to Chaminade.

The Beacons are 3-2 on the season but are coming off two straight losses to Rocky Mountain and Lewis & Clark State at the CCC/Frontier Challenge in Spokane over the weekend. Saint Martin’s and Northwest Christian met last season in Eugene with the Beacons coming out on top 79-72.

If you can’t make it to Marcus Pavilion for the games, you can follow live stats and hear me with the call on the webcast on SMUSaints.com.