Saint Mary's defeats North Dakota St 78-65

Nov 15, 2014, 02:03 am

MORAGA, Calif. -- Brad Waldow had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Saint Mary's over North Dakota State 78-65 Thursday night.

Saint Mary's (3-0) took an 8-7 lead in the first half and never trailed the rest of the game. Waldow scored 11 of his points in the second half as the Gaels stretched the lead to 10 with under a minute to play. Waldow, who averages nearly one block per game, had three of the team's six blocks against the Bison.

The Gaels made nine of their last 12 free throws while shooting 73.3 percent from the line.

North Dakota State (1-1) pulled within two points with 9:42 remaining on back-to-back jumpers by Lawrence Alexander. Alexander finished with 12 points. Marshall Bjorklund had 23 points to lead the Bison, but only shot once from the floor in the final eight minutes -- a missed layup.