MORAGA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's basketball nearly pulled off a remarkable comeback on Wednesday evening, fighting back from a 25-point deficit to make it a four-point game inside the final minute against the Gaels of Saint Mary's. Unfortunately, the bid fell just short as the Broncos fell 82-77 inside the UCU Pavilion in their second WCC loss of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- For the second straight game, the Broncos (15-8, 6-2) struggled to score out of the gate as they quickly fell behind 16-0 following an 0-for-9 start from the field. Adama-Alpha Bal gave SCU their first points on a free throw with 12:33 in the half and Carlos Marshall, Jr. knocked down a triple for their first field goal on the ensuing possession.
- The Broncos narrowed to gap to 12 on a Jake Ensminger trey with 6:42 remaining in the opening half, but Saint Mary's used a 14-4 run to regain control.
- Santa Clara finished the first half 8-for-27 (30 percent) from the field while Saint Mary's hit 54 percent of their attempts (15-of-28) as they built a 44-22 advantage at the half.
- Despite the rough first half, the Broncos responded with an outstanding effort in the final 20 minutes.
- SCU outscored the Gaels 55-38 in the final 20 minutes and used a monster 19-3 run to cut the deficit to just eight points with 3:12 remaining.
- Despite Saint Mary's (16-6, 7-0) knocking their free throws to maintain their multi-score advantage, the Broncos never gave up and punched back one last time as Bal knocked down triple on consecutive possessions to whittle the score to 79-75 with just 16 seconds remaining.
- Unfortunately, Santa Clara needed the Gaels to falter at the free throw line to give themselves a chance, but it was not in the cards as Saint Mary's knocked three of their final four attempts at the charity stripe to hold on for the win.
NOTABLE NUMBERS:
- Marshall Jr. finished with a game-high 23 points for his fifth 20-point game of the season.
- Johnny O'Neil pulled down a team-high nine rebounds to go with 15 points.
- Bal, who had just four points in the first half, finished with 18 for his 18th double-figure scoring effort of the year.
- Camaron Tongue (8 points) and Jake Ensminger (5 points, 7 rebounds) both had big impacts from off the bench.
- The Broncos shot 51 percent in the second half while limiting the Gaels to 43 percent.
- Santa Clara edged Saint Mary's on the boards 33-32. The Gaels entered the game as the nation's leader in rebound margin at plus-12.3.
POSTGAME COMMENTS:
UP NEXT:
The Broncos return to the Leavey Center for a 4:00 p.m. PT tip on Saturday against San Diego in the teams' first matchup of the season.
