The men’s basketball team started their season on the road in Lacey, Washington, Friday night at the Marcus Pavilion against the Saint Martin’s Saints. Last year, the teams played each other at The Sports Center and the Cougars were able to come away with 76-60 victory. This time it was a much different story, as the Cougars were defeated 84-72.

Greg Milton III led the Cougars with 39 points on an efficient 16/24 shooting. Zach Perlstein added 12 on 5/7 shooting. The Saints started off on fire, got out to an early lead, and never really looked back. It was a tough night defensively for the Cougars as Saint Martin’s had five different players score in double figures. Every time the Cougars would go on a run, Saint Martin’s would answer back with buckets. The Cougars trailed by as much as eighteen in the second half, but were able to cut the lead down to six with four minutes left in the game. It proved to be too little, too late as Saint Martin’s would end up winning stress free. If there is a silver lining to take from this loss, it is that Greg Milton III proved he can be one of the best players in the country at this level, as he was unstoppable in this game. The Cougars will be fine; the outcome of this game would have been a lot different if they just played better defensively and hit some of those clutch shots down the stretch.