WCC Basketball Fans

Gonzaga 89, St. Mary’s 85 (OT)

Ten days ago, St. Mary’s was flying high. The Gaels had four straight wins, and were gearing up for a road game against conference cellar-dweller San Diego and a huge BracketBuster game against Utah State. However, an implosion in San Diego left them stunned, and then the Aggies beat Saint Mary’s on its own home court. All of a sudden, the Thursday night date against Gonzaga, a team they had already beaten once this season, loomed large. Needing a win to calm the tide and lock up the West Coast Conference title, the Gaels instead saw Gonzaga (20-9, 10-3) walk into the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, California, and walk out with a huge overtime win, extracting revenge on the Gaels (22-7, 10-3) while also putting the teams in a deadlock for first place in the WCC with just one game remaining in the regular season.

The game was close throughout; the Bulldogs’ largest lead came when they went up 55-45 five minutes into the second half. The Gaels battled back to take the lead, but saw it slip away on a Marquise Carter three-pointer with 1:13 left that knotted the game up at 76. Both teams went scoreless after that, sending the game to an overtime session that became official when SMC sharpshooter Mickey McConnell missed a 23-footer from the left wing.

The Bulldogs started early in the extra period, jumping ahead 81-76 before the Gaels slowly chipped away and used a parade of foul shots to eventually take an 84-83 lead with 33 seconds left. However, a Saint Mary’s foul then led to two free throws by Gonzaga’s Sam Dower with 19 seconds left which gave GU an 85-84 edge. The Zags held onto that lead as McConnell, to the astonishment of everyone in the building, missed a three-foot finger roll with 13 seconds left. GU’s Robert Sacre nailed two more foul shots with 11 seconds remaining for an 87-84 lead, and the Bulldogs then fouled Saint Mary’s to prevent the Gaels from getting a look at a tying three-pointer. Gonzaga drained two more free throws with eight seconds remaining to grab a four-point lead and seal the most satisfying triumph of a season that once stood on rocky ground. Gonzaga was 3-3 in the West Coast Conference in January and looked completely out of sorts. Sure enough, the Zags have rebounded and are now one win away from being on top of the mountain yet again in the conference they’ve owned for more than a decade. Revenge, a four-point win, and a tie for first place in the WCC only just began to summarize how sweet this conquest was for the boys from Spokane.

Matthew Dellavedova had 24 points, Rob Jones had 21 and Micky McConnell added 15 for the Gaels in the loss. In what amounted to a very close game, they were done in by a lack of defense as they allowed the Bulldogs to shoot above 50 percent from the floor. The Gaels have now allowed 50 percent shooting or better in all three of their consecutive losses, a fact that cannot make Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett a happy camper.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, got 21 points from Sam Dower (including four late free throws in overtime), 18 from Elias Harris, 13 from Robert Sacre, and 11 apiece from Demetri Goodson and Marquise Carter in the win. After seemingly being out of the WCC race following a three game skid in late January, coach Mark Few’s team has bounced back strong, winning five straight games and seven straight conference games. Now, the Zags have one conference game left (at San Diego, a team they crushed earlier) while St. Mary’s hosts Portland (the team that handed the Gaels their first conference loss of the season). One tremendous road victory against a formidable rival has given the Bulldogs a reasonable shot at winning the regular season title.

Sujal Shah
DFN Sports Staff Writer