Stifling defense was the name of the game as the St. Lawrence University men's basketball team earned a 66-45 win over the Union College Garnet Chargers in Liberty League action at Burkman Gymnasium Friday evening. 

The Saints began the game on a 6-0 run in a competitive first half as they held the Garnet Chargers to less than 10 points overall through the first 16 minutes of play. Both teams would close out the half scoring eight points each over the final three minutes of play as St. Lawrence would take a 28-17 lead into the break. Gavin Macaulay and Aidan Macaulay paced the scoring with 10 and 9 points respectively.  

Another strong start to the second half saw the Saints go on a 13-0 run as the lead was pushed to 45-19 with 13:45 left to go in the half. Union continued to battle but the St. Lawrence defense was too much as the Saints pushed the lead to 27 at one point with under 10 minutes to play in the game.  

Aidan Macaulay led all scorers with 21 points on 5-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Gavin Macaulay contributed nine points to the Saints cause while Andrew Cowan had eight points to go along with eight rebounds.  

"It was a solid win for us today," said Chris Downs, the Saints' head coach. "We had a good performance, and we'll need to repeat that Saturday when we play a top team in the Liberty League in Ithaca. This league is so tough."

St. Lawrence, who improves to 8-4 on the year, 4-2 in conference play, outscored Union 30-16 in the paint while also forcing 19 turnovers en route to the victory.  

The Saints continue their weekend homestand Saturday afternoon as they face-off with Ithaca in another Liberty League contest scheduled to start at 4 p.m.