Men rip Gonzaga 81-70
By BRIAN ELSNER
The men's basketball team forced the Gonzaga Bulldogs into an uncharacteristic 18 turnovers in a revenge-minded 81-70 victory last Friday at Toso Pavilion.
Along with an uneventful 56-53 win over Portland on Saturday, the Broncos finished the regular season in fourth place in the West Coast Conference at 9-5 and an overall record of 18-11 in the season.
Trailing 37-29 at halftime on Friday, Gonzaga came out firing in the second half. Richie Frahm led the 'Zags on a 20-8 run on his way to a team-high 22 points, and the Bulldogs held a 49-45 lead with 14:06 remaining in the game before sophomore Brian Vaka came off the bench to nail a three pointer to cut the lead to one. After a Bulldog turnover, Jamie Holmes nailed two free throws to give Santa Clara the lead once again. The game remained close until junior Brian Jones calmly hit shots from beyond the arc on consecutive possessions to push the Bronco lead to 11 with seven minutes remaining. Gonzaga never came closer than six points the rest of the game.
"Brian [Jones] really likes challenges and goes at them with absolutely no fear," Head Coach Dick Davey said. "He was very mature in this game both offensively and defensively."
Jones finished the game with a near triple-double, tallying 22 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds. Yet even more impressive was his defense on All-WCC guard Matt Santangelo.
Throughout the game, Jones made Santangelo earn his points on tough shots and did not enable the point guard to penetrate the defense to set up open looks at the basket for his teammates. In addition to Jones' performance, senior Nathan Fast led the Broncos with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field in another textbook display of shooting.
"If Nathan [Fast] and BJ [Brian Jones] play like they did in the Gonzaga game, we will be a tough team to beat," senior Todd Wushnig said
The Broncos nearly beat themselves Saturday on Senior Night against the Portland Pilots. Santa Clara came out ice cold from everywhere on the court, finishing with a horrendous 27 percent shooting percentage from the floor. Senior Darrell Teat opened the game by missing nine straight three point attempts only to redeem himself later by leading the Broncos to a 14-point second half lead.
Teat repeatedly took the ball inside for lay-ups and free throws on his way to a team high 13 points.
"You have to feel very happy and a little lucky to win that game," Davey said. "You don't win very often shooting 27 percent."
The Broncos open the WCC Tournament with a Saturday night rematch with USF, which beat the Broncos at Toso Pavilion earlier this season.