SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Sometimes the stars align and everything goes right. For Santa Clara men's basketball, that's exactly what happened on Thursday evening inside the Leavey Center. With Bronco Legends Steve Nash and Dick Davey in attendance, a full-capcity crowd of 4,200, ESPN carrying the broadcast, students wearing replica Nash jerseys and the Broncos themselves wearing throwback uniforms from that Davey-led Era of the 1990s, the moment that Bronco Fans have waited 13 years for finally came to fruition as Santa Clara upset No. 21 Gonzaga to break a 26-game losing skid against the Bulldogs with a 77-76 final.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• The Broncos struck first on a quick jumper by Carlos Marshall Jr., to kickstart an early Bronco 8-2 lead.

• The Broncos dominated the boards in the opening half with 27  rebounds compared to Gonzaga's 11, leading to 10 second chance points. 

• Johnny O'Neil and Adama-Alpha Bal both posted seven points in the half as the Broncos mounted a 38-25 advantage. The Bulldogs (11-5, 2-1) pushed back to cut the deficit to six at the break, 40-34. 

• Gonzaga continued to fight in the second half and grabbed the lead outright with 11:37 to go. The lead then changed hands or was tied 11 times for the remainder of the night. The Bulldogs scored five straight to carry a 70-67 advantage into the final media timeout. Brenton Knapper, who finished with a career-best 16 points, knocked down a huge trey to even the score. 

• Despite that, Gonzaga still took a four-point lead with 1:09 to play and looked as if they would escape the Leavey Center once again with a victory, but a quick dunk from O'Neil, followed by a defensive stop and straight into Bal drawing a foul on the other end set the stage for the junior to tie the game with an opportunity at the free throw line. However, Bal missed the first of two freebies, resulting in the Zags holding a 76-75 lead with just 14 seconds to play.
• Gonzaga was quickly fouled and headed to the free throw line for a one-and-one opportunity of their own, but missed the front end to give the Broncos one last hope. Bal then delivered just that by knocking down a tough shot in the paint with just four seconds to play to put the Broncos on top 77-76. Although he missed the and-one opportunity, Gonzaga was unable to answer and the Bronco fanbase flooded the court to celebrate the victory.

INSIDE THE WINNING NUMBERS: 

• The win was Santa Clara's first over Gonzaga since Jan. 20, 2011 and their first-ever win over a ranked Gonzaga team (1-31). 
• It was also the Broncos' first win over a ranked opponent since Feb. 8, 2022 (77-72 over No. 22 Saint Mary's)
• Five Broncos scored in double figures led by Bal's 17. The junior also finished with six assists and three steals.
• Knapper was 4-for-6 from from 3-point range and grabbed five boards to go with three assists and his new career-best point total.
• O'Neil finished with 11 points while Christoph Tilly and Tyeree Bryan each chipped in 10 points with the latter also pulling down eight rebounds to pace the team. 
• Santa Clara finished with 44 rebounds to the Bulldogs' 31 and dished out 21 assists against just eight for Gonzaga.
• Gonzaga was led by a game-high 32 points from Anton Watson, who gave the Broncos fits in the paint from start to finish. 

POSTGAME COMMENTS:

NEXT UP:

Santa Clara hosts the Gaels of Saint Mary's this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. on ESPN.