Broncos Breeze Through Two Home Games

By Henry Gula

The Santa Clara men's basketball team earned two important conference wins in the Leavey Center last week against the University of San Diego and Pepperdine University.

The Broncos now sit at 19-8 overall and 7-5 in conference, and are in sole possession of fourth place in the West Coast Conference standings.

Forward Marc Trasolini led the Broncos against San Diego with a double-double, good for 17 points and 10 rebounds.

"They were doubling Kevin (Foster) and Evan (Roquemore) off of ball-screens so I looked to attack," Trasolini said. "My jumpers were falling early so I kept going to it. And then, as always, I wanted to get on the glass as much as I could."

Guard Brandon Clark came off the bench and had a big night, scoring 11 points and adding three assists.

Although San Diego outscored the Broncos in the first half, the Bronco bench came through in the second. With all the starters on the bench, the Broncos went on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 38. The Broncos were then able to push ahead and seal the 61-52 win.

Saturday's 70-60 win over the Waves of Pepperdine brought a major milestone for senior guard Raymond Cowels III: his 1,000th point in a Bronco uniform.

Cowels joined 30 other players in the Santa Clara record books, and Santa Clara now has the elite distinction of being one of three teams in the nation to have four starters with over 1,000 points each. The other two are North Carolina State University and Davidson College.

"It feels great and I have to thank my team for passing me the ball for four years and believing in me. It's a blessing to play with them," Cowels told Santa Clara Broncos Athletics online. When asked if he knew he had passed the milestone, he said, "Oh yes. It got loud as heck. It took me nine shots tonight - it was one of those off nights, but I won't have another I hope."

Head Coach Kerry Keating said that the milestone couldn't have happened at a better time.

"I couldn't be happier for Ray," Keating said. "We are excited for the win tonight and the team is really happy for (him)."

Kevin Foster led the Broncos in scoring on Saturday with 22, and now needs only 15 points to move into second place on the all-time leading WCC scorers list.

"I just had to shoot myself out of my slump. It felt good," said Foster.

Brandon Clark again had a big game off the bench, scoring 15 for the Broncos.

Yannick Atanga finished with seven rebounds and four blocks and was key for the Bronco defense.

"We went back to what wins games for us and that's on the defensive end," Trasolini said. "We kept both of these teams to 60 and under and that helped. I think we attacked at everything and it helped to get going early."

The Broncos have four games remaining and are in position to earn a bye to the quarterfinals of the WCC Tournament beginning on March 6 in Las Vegas.

"It was a great team effort tonight. Everyone contributed," said Keating. "This week, we were able to utilize the bench more, whether in mass or individually, and that was promising. We are going to need everybody in this stretch run."

Contact Henry Gula at hgula@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.