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.
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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