Web update: Broncos win on last-second free throws 51-50

By Ryan Donough

The Broncos escaped by the narrowest of margins on Thursday night with a 51-50 win over Eddie Sutton's San Francisco Dons.

Santa Clara held the ball down by one with 8.2 seconds left to play. After the inbound, senior guard Brody Angley dumped the ball to junior center John Bryant in the post, who was fouled by center Hyman Taylor with 3 seconds left. Bryant hit both free throws to give the Broncos the lead. On the ensuing inbounds (Quezada) dribbled the ball down the court but was unable to get a shot off as Santa Clara squeaked by with the win.

The victory propelled the Broncos into the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament, where they face No. 1 seed Gonzaga Sunday.

Bryant was dominant throughout the game, leading the Broncos with 25 points, 17 rebounds and 7 blocks. He was only one of four players who scored for Santa Clara.

But his biggest contribution came on his two clutch free throws in the waning seconds of the game.

"That is what coach stresses in practice," Bryant said of the free throws. "You have to treat every free throw like it is a game situation."

Angley scored eight points despite a blow to the head with eight minutes left that knocked him out of the game for a brief stint and required two stitches to his right eye. Angley suffered a concussion in the Bronco's last game against Gonzaga and was unable to practice all week.

Keating was very pleased with Angley's gutsy performance.

"I can't say enough about his determination coming out tonight," Keating said. "He didn't want go out like that even if he had a tough time playing. He was on the floor when we needed him the most and gave our team confidence."

San Francisco was hurt most by the departure of leading scorer Dior Lowhorn, who fouled out with 4:12 remaining in the second half and scored only 10 points, well below his season average of 20.9.

The Broncos had a sluggish first half and trailed the Dons 31-24 at the break.

Santa Clara had a difficult time getting into their offense in the first half. Bryant and Angley accounted for 20 of Santa Clara's 24 points, and the team shot 47 percent from the floor. However, turnovers were an issue as the Broncos committed 12 in the first half (19 total) that the Dons turned into 15 points (20 total).

The Broncos next face the top seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs tomorrow night at 6 pm. The last time the two met, the Bulldogs blew out Santa Clara 88-54.

"Obviously, it is not going to get any easier playing against Gonzaga, the top seeded team in the tournament," Keating said. "Our guys understand the opportunity we have to redeem ourselves in the semifinals and we will do the best we can to come out and not have any letdowns."