Bulldogs continue winning tradition

By Chris Furnari

Tickets available to the public were sold out a month before the contest and 850 student tickets were sold out in only two hours. Another 22 tickets released just 6 hours before tip off were gone in less than 15 minutes. And as all 4,500 fans filled the Leavey Center to capacity, the Broncos appeared ready to score an upset.

Despite being the most anticipated basketball game of the year, for Bronco fans at least, Santa Clara dropped its second conference game 77-69 to out-of-town rival Gonzaga.

The Zags entered the contest with an overall record of 11-6, including notable wins over once top-ranked North Carolina, Texas and Washington. The Broncos entered the contest with an 11-5 overall record and boasted quality wins of their own against Hawaii, Stanford and Utah State.

The first half played exactly as expected. Both teams traded baskets and hard fouls. The Broncos got started behind the back court of Danny Pariseau and Brody Angley, who scored the Broncos' first three baskets. The Bulldogs answered with six points of their own, until a Sean Denison dunk showed the visitors from Spokane that this wasn't going to be yet another walk-over victory.

Halfway through the first half, Bronco fans roared when Pariseau launched a three-point shot from well behind the arc that just about blew the roof off the Leavey Center.

"I was thinking, 'I know I have this range and the defender has his hands down, so I'm going to knock this one down'," said Pariseau.

The teams exchanged baskets the rest of the half, but not without physical play. The referees called a tight game, and both squads were in the double bonus early.

"It was a very physical game," said Pariseau, "Their big guys are really good but I think our guys held their own."

It was all Gonzaga to open the second half of play. Behind big man Josh Heytvelt, who didn't start despite being the second leading scorer, the Bulldogs opened up a 49-43 lead in the first three minutes of play. The Broncos however, who were down 9 at one point, came roaring back to pull within two points of the Bulldogs with 12 minutes left to play.

The Zags again pulled away from the Bronco squad that had gone cold from the three-point line. Gonzaga switched to a zone to begin the half, a defensive maneuver that slowed the Bronco offense down, and forced more outside shots.

The Broncos attempted one last comeback and pulled within three after Scott Dougherty nailed a three-point shot with 37 seconds left to play. But that's as close as the Broncos would get, as the game ended with the Bulldogs shooting a perfect 100 percent from the line in the second half.

"We were getting good looks," said Pariseau. "We just couldn't knock them down."

The Broncos took 29 three-point shots in all, twice as many as the Bulldogs who seemed to be hitting everything in the second half. Part of that was because of Gonzaga's 1-2-2 zone, but part of it was poor offensive execution.

"We shot too many threes tonight," said head coach Dick Davey. "I think the game plan was to get the ball inside a little bit more, but we weren't really effective."

The Bulldogs shot 49.1 percent from the field on the same number of shots as a Bronco squad, who only shot 40.4 percent.

"It boils down to making shots," said head coach Davey. "We didn't do it and they did."

The loss was Santa Clara's 13th straight to the Bulldogs, including playoffs and regular season contests.

Despite the losing streak, Davey said it was still only a single conference game.

"It's one of 14," said Davey, referring to the number of conference games. "Let's hope that in a month when we play them at their place, it's closer."

The Broncos will travel to Spokane on Feb. 12 for the nationally televised rematch.

Before that game, the will continue conference play at San Diego on Saturday and at San Francisco on Monday.

Contact Chris Furnari at (408) 551-1918 or cfurnari@scu.edu