After missing his first seven attempts, Dellavedova finally got on the board off a pair of free throws with 50 seconds remaining in the first period.

But Dellavedova wasn’t on the only Gael struggling offensively. In the opening frame, Saint Mary’s shot 7 of 31 from the field and one of nine from beyond the arc. The Gaels faired better in the second half, finishing the game with a 40 percent field goal percentage—still well below its mark of 51 percent entering the contest.

Mitchell Young and James Walker III paced the Gaels with 16 and 12 points, respectively.

CROWDSURFING

After watching their team struggle throughout the opening frame, the 2847 fans who packed into McKeon Pavilion on New Year’s Eve came alive in the second half.

“You could definitely see how much the players fed off the crowd especially in the closing couple minutes,” Travis said.

But in the opening frame, Amaker felt the Crimson managed to keep the crowd at bay.

“I thought we played well enough where we kept the crowd out of it for the majority of the game,” said Amaker, whose squad led by 14 points at the break.

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.