Saint Mary’s F Alex Ducas helped off court with back injury

ALBANY, N.Y (AP) — Saint Mary’s senior forward Alex Ducas had to be helped off the court late in the first half of the Gaels’ second-round NCAA Tournament game against UConn on Sunday.

The Australian left the court with 4:52 left in the half. He was away from the play and suddenly reached for his lower back and slowly went down to the court at MVP Arena.

Saint Mary’s trainers attended to him and he gingerly walked off the court with people supporting him. He went directly to the locker room.

Ducas did not return to the Saint Mary’s bench for the start of the second half.

Ducas had scored eight points in the opening 15 minutes. He came in averaging 12.6 points and 4.4 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Gaels of the West Coast Conference.

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