The little school from the little town of Moraga, CA defeated the 2nd seed Villanova Wildcats on Saturday, booking their ticket to the Sweet 16 next week.
The game was neck-and-neck just about the whole way, but Omar Samhan continued to wear down the under-sized Villanova team and then exploded in the 2nd half, including big shots down the stretch that were needed to put the Wildcats away.
Samhan continues to impress in the Tournament and has grown into maybe the player of March Madness so far. He scores, plays defense, blocks shots. There is not much this kid cannot do and Villanova was unable to stop him as he went for 32 points and 7 rebounds.
What surprised many was how clutch this St. Mary's team was in this game. Whether it was a clutch block from Samhan, free throws from Clint Steindl, or a bank-in 3-pointer from Mickey McConnell to seal it.
This team is for real. They match up well with every team in this tournament, have fantastic guard-play from McConnell and others, and the big man Samhan down low doing everything.
Who knows how far this team can go, but they are peaking at just the right time. Their next game will be on Thursday against #3 seed Baylor University, who is no joke. It will be yet another test that the Gaels will have to overcome if they want to continue their impressive run through this Tournament.
This week, look for Omar Samhan all over TV, as I predict he and the Gaels will be quite a comodity for ESPN.
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