Web update: Men's basketball dominates in season opener winning 68-40
By Justin Phan
The Santa Clara men's basketball team opened their 2008-09 season with a 68-40 win against Cal State East Bay.
Senior John Bryant's 25th career double-double anchored the team as the 6'11" center set the tone early, scoring eight of Santa Clara's first 20 points. He finished with a game-high of 19 points, collected 11 rebounds and had two blocks
"I did alright. I missed some close shots," Bryant said. "When I'm rebounding I just have to slow myself down and box out. I let the little guys get some offensive rebounds on me. I can't let that happen. I played pretty well and I'm pretty happy with myself but I could've done better."
The 28-point margin of victory was essentially dictated by three key stretches during the game where Santa Clara dominated possession.
The Broncos came out of the gates to take a 5-0 lead early on after a lay up by Bryant and a three-pointer from sophomore Michael Santos.
Santa Clara never relinquished the lead after that. The team then went on an unprecedented 15-0 run to open the second half, with six of those points coming from Bryant and five from Santos.
"It was all about taking care of the ball," Head Coach Kerry Keating said. "The main reason we went on the 15-0 run was because we had no turnovers in that 15-0 run to my recollection. If we just had taken care of the ball we would've been able to score any way we want. We were doing a half-decent job on defense and we just needed to execute on offense. That was the difference."
Santa Clara finished the game on a similar note going on a 9-0 run. This time it was the freshmen that took control, as Kevin Foster scored five points and Marc Trasolini scored two on a lay up.
Although it was Foster and Trasolini that were the catalysts during that stretch, it was James Rahon that stole the show amongst the freshmen.
Rahon finished with 12 points, four rebounds, and two steals on 5-for-6 shooting. He finally found his stroke Friday after struggling in Santa Clara's exhibition game where he shot just 2-for-8 from the field last Friday against Cal State Monterey Bay.
"I felt more comfortable," said Rahon. "I just wasn't hitting last game but we all played well and it was a good team win."
Keating said that the game was a good learning experience for the freshmen.
"They can only learn so much in practice," Keating said. "But they are eager, willing to learn and very competitive. Troy and James played well. It's a win. It's a good start for us and now it's all about getting ready for UAB on Monday."
Santa Clara will travel to Tucson, Ariz., to play University of Alabama at Birmingham in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-off Tournament on Monday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m.
BRONCOS NOTEBOOK:Santa Clara has opened their season with a win in five consecutive years...the Broncos shot 59.6 percent from the field...Santa Clara out-bounded East Bay 40 to 20.
Contact Justin Phan at jphan1@scu.edu.