Broncos falter in double overtime

By Ryan Donough

Gonzaga stole what seemed to be a sure Santa Clara victory on Saturday, escaping the Leavey Center with an 87-82 double-overtime win over the Broncos.

After leading for the entire second half, Santa Clara appeared to be heading for their first victory over Gonzaga at home since 2001.

Yet despite holding Gonzaga's top three scorers to 20 points combined in regulation, the Broncos couldn't seal the win.

Santa Clara was leading 63-61 with 14 seconds remaining in the game when Gonzaga began what appeared to be their final possession.

Junior Jeremy Pargo drove to the basket but was rejected by center John Bryant, who deflected the ball off Pargo, giving the Broncos possession with 3.2 seconds left.

On the ensuing in-bounds play, freshman Ben Dowdell threw a long, football-style pass down the court that was batted down near Santa Clara's free-throw line by sophomore guard Jonathan Gunderson.

As the ball bounced toward the corner, senior guard Brody Angley, who led the Broncos with a career-high 28 points, collided with Gonzaga freshman Stephen Gray as the two dove for the ball.

Angley was called for the foul with only 0.3 seconds remaining in the game, giving Gray a pair of free throws. Gray made both of the free throws, sending the game into overtime.

Angley was understandably disappointed with his mistake at the end of regulation.

"It's hard when you make that kind of mistake and let your teammates down in that situation," Angley said.

Despite the mistake, Head Coach Kerry Keating was happy with Angley's play.

"He only had three turnovers in 48 minutes and had the poise to get us into double overtime. I mean, that kid is a warrior," Keating said.

Santa Clara and Gonzaga exchanged baskets in the first overtime, but Santa Clara trailed 72-70 with 23 seconds left. Angley drove down the lane and kicked the ball across the key to freshman Andrew Zimmerman on the block, who made the easy lay-up to tie the game and send it to a second overtime period.

Gonzaga freshman Austin Daye, who scored 13 of his team-leading 22 points in overtime, hit two three-pointers and a lay-up in the second overtime to give the Bulldogs an 80-74 lead with just over two minutes to go.

Santa Clara was also unable to contain Gonzaga's bench, which outscored the Broncos 28 to 5.

Gonzaga sealed their victory with two free-throws from Pargo with just over five seconds left.

Bryant scored 22 points and had 6 rebounds, but fouled out with two minutes left in the first overtime. Sophomore Jonathan Gunderson hit 5 of 9 three-pointers for 15 points. Senior Mitch Henke and Dowdell combined for 12 points in the loss.

Contact Ryan Donough at (408) 551-1918 or rdonough@scu.edu.