WCC Basketball Fans

St. Mary’s 83, Portland 69

The Saint Mary’s Gaels stopped the bleeding just in time. They certainly didn’t get everything they wanted out of the 2011 West Coast Conference regular season; they’ve also played their way onto the bad side of the NCAA Tournament bubble; however, they can at least say that they are champions of their domain for one year.

Reeling thanks to three straight losses, two of which had eliminated any chance of an outright regular season conference title, St. Mary’s settled for a split. SMC did not enter the month of March with an empty hand because it responded to its recent woes by ripping Portland at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, California, on Saturday night. The win, in the regular-season finale for both teams, helped the Gaels gain revenge for their first conference loss (an 85-70 loss at Portland) in late January. With the badly-needed triumph, the Gaels locked up the number one seed in the West Coast Conference tourney by way of owning the tiebreaker over co-champion Gonzaga. Portland, for its part, finished the season fifth in the WCC, a grave disappointment for a team that’s been in the top three of the conference the previous few years.

The Gaels, who saw the Pilots use a 27-2 run to start the second half and take control in the January game, responded in kind on Saturday with a 21-6 run to turn a one-point deficit into a 59-45 lead. The closest the Pilots got after that point in the proceedings was eight, as the Gaels rolled to an easy victory. Matthew Dellavedova led the way for St. Mary’s with 21 points. Stephen Holt posted 16 points, including three early three-pointers in the early second half run, and Mickey McConnell contributed 15 points to join in the fun. Coach Randy Bennett’s team will look to use the win to carry some momentum in the WCC Tournament, which it may very well have to win if it wants take home a second straight NCAA tournament berth. Saint Mary’s will definitely have to win its WCC semifinal this upcoming Sunday. The Gaels might play fourth-seeded Santa Clara, but then again, they might also play a certain No. 5 seed: the very Portland team they just vanquished in Central California, not too far from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Portland coach Eric Reveno saw his team keep the game close in the first half, but the Pilots wilted under pressure in the second half as the Gaels picked up their level of intensity, fueled by the desire to ensure a split of the WCC title. Jared Stohl had 16 points and Luke Sikma had 12 to pace the Pilots, who were hurt largely by sending the Gaels to the line 41 times while only taking 14 free throws of their own.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer