By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Cruising to a lopsided victory on Friday night at Sam Carver Gym, top-seeded and No. 21 Saint Martin’s knocked down No. 4 seed Central Washington 87-68 in the semifinals of the 2026 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championships.
 
The Saints started hot, built a 15-point halftime lead and put their foot on the accelerator in a game that was one-sided from start to finish. The regular-season champions, Saint Martin’s improved to 24-5 on the season with the win and advanced to Saturday’s conference tournament title game where they will face No. 2 seed Alaska Anchorage (21-9) at 7:30 p.m. (Pacific). The Seawolves out-lasted No. 6 seed Alaska 87-86 in double-overtime in Friday’s other semifinal contest.
 
It will mark the third time that SMU and UAA have squared off at the GNAC Championships with the Saints winning each of the previous two contests. Both teams will be in search of their first conference tournament trophy, with SMU playing in its third title game and UAA set to play in its fifth. It will also be a rematch of an unforgettable regular-season finale, with the Saints’ Dae’Kwon Watson draining a near-half court buzzer beater to beat the Seawolves 57-56 last Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center.
 
On a night where Saint Martin’s dominated the glass 45-22 – its second-highest rebounding margin in a game this season – Pablo Navarro led the way with 15 rebounds. He completed his sixth double-double of the season adding 10 points in his 23 minutes on the floor. Diego Trejo-Delgado led the Saints in scoring with 19 points, knocking down 8 of 10 field goals including a 3-for-4 line from long distance, and adding six boards, three assists and two steals.
 
Freshman Patrick Kilfoil made 5 of 9 shots on his way to 13 points, adding four assists, three boards and a steal, Watson finished with a dozen points and Mark Clegg Jr. turned in 10 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench. The Saints shot an efficient 51.4% (36-for-70) from the floor and 42.9% (9-for-21) from long range. A total of 10 different SMU players scored points in the semifinal contest.
 
Central Washington saw its season come to a close with a record of 16-16 overall with the defeat. Bradley Swillie led all scorers in the game with 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting including 5-for-11 accuracy from long distance. Swillie added a game-high eight assists in 34 minutes on the floor. First-team all-GNAC guard Jordan Clark wrapped up his junior season with eight points, four steals and four assists, and Eli Williams finished with nine points in 19 minutes. No Wildcat had more than four rebounds in what was the team’s worst rebounding game of the 2025-26 season.
 
GAME NOTES: SMU completed the season sweep of CWU after winning both regular-season contests between the teams…it was the third all-time meeting between the two at the conference tournament, with SMU winning each of the prior contests…the Saints are in their eighth appearance at the GNAC Championships and hold an all-time record of 5-7…the Wildcats made their 10th conference tournament appearance and saw their all-time record move to 13-9 with Friday’s defeat.
 
NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS: Saint Martin’s was ranked second in the latest NCAA regional rankings released on Wednesday, while the Wildcats were not ranked in the top-10. The top-eight teams in the final rankings, which are announced on Sunday, will earn spots in next week’s NCAA West Region Championships hosted by the No. 1 overall seed.