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BYU holds off St. Mary's

Nov 28, 2010 - 7:30 AM South Padre Island, TX (Sports Network) - Jimmer Fredette scored a game-high 24 points and No. 23 BYU edged the St. Mary's Gaels, 74-73, in the final game of the South Padre Island Invitational.

Jackson Emery scored 15 points and Kyle Collinsworth added 10 for the Cougars (6-0), who were coming off a double-overtime victory over South Florida on Friday.

"This was a really, really great weekend for us," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "I was really thrilled for how the guys competed together as a group. The biggest thing we gained from this weekend is how to win together as a group."

Rob Jones led St. Mary's with 18 points and both Mitchell Young and Mickey McConnell added 12 points for the Gaels (6-1), who edged Texas Tech on Friday.

The teams traded baskets in the final minutes and Fredette's free throws with 32 ticks remaining gave the Cougars a 69-66 advantage, but McConnell hit a layup to draw the Gaels within one point.

St. Mary's took the lead at 70-69 on two Matthew Dellavedova free throws with 22 seconds left, but Fredette hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining and Charles Abouo added a pair from the line to put BYU up 74-70.

McConnell hit a three at the buzzer to account for the final margin.

BYU held a slim 43-40 advantage at halftime after Emery led the Cougars with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting.

A Fredette jumper in the opening minutes of the second half extended the Cougars' lead to eight, 49-41.

The Gaels trimmed the lead and Jones put them ahead for the first time in the second half with a jumper at 15:19. But two Brandon David free throws 32 second later regained the margin for BYU.

Logan Magnusson extended the BYU lead to seven, 59-52, with a jumper inside 12 minutes, but once again St. Mary's used a quick spurt to keep the game close.

Game Notes

Dellavedova finished with 11 points for the Gaels...BYU made 54 percent of its shots and St. Mary's 49 percent.