HENDERSON, Nev. - The Santa Clara men's basketball team saw three players score 20 points or more for the first time since 2018 in an 84-74 victory over the Bradley Braves on Saturday at the Lee's Family Forum. The win marks the third straight victory for the Broncos and fourth win in the last five games. The Broncos were led by Elijah Mahi, who tallied a career high 23 points, while Christoph Tilly had a season high 21 and Carlos Stewart Jr. tied a season high 20 points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Broncos (6-5, 0-0) scorched the Braves from the field early on, shooting a blistering 8-13 (61.5%) from the floor, led by Carlos Stewart Jr. (3-3 FG) (2-2 three-point FG) with nine points in the first six minutes. A 19-4 Broncos run capped off by back-to-back layups from Elijah Mahi put SCU up 21-11 after the second media timeout.
• A 5-0 spurt from the Braves was quickly answered by the Broncos as a block on one end from Christoph Tilly, then a fastbreak layup on the other end, put them up 39-23 with two minutes left in the first half. Another Tilly layup capped off an 11-0 Broncos run, as the Broncos took their largest lead of the game, 41-23, right before the half.
• Two Bradley free throws made it 41-25 at the break with the Broncos holding Bradley without a field goal for the final six minutes of the half. The Santa Clara defense held the Braves to 9-27 (33%) shooting in the first frame, while the Broncos shot 15-27 (55.6%) from the field, their second highest percentage from the field in a half this season. Mahi led the Broncos with 13 points in the first half, while Tilly added 12 and Stewart added nine.
• A 5-0 spurt to open the second half put the Broncos up 46-27, and another trey from Stewart put SCU up 53-35, but the Braves hit eight of their first 11 shots to open the frame, going on a 13-4 run to cut the lead to 57-48 with 11 minutes left, forcing a Santa Clara timeout.
• The Broncos answered with an 11-4 run of their own after a trey from Stewart to push the lead back up to 16, 68-52. However, the Broncos went cold going three minutes without a field goal as a three-pointer from Duke Deen capped off a 15-3 run by the Braves cut it to 71-67 with four minutes left.
• A three-pointer from Tyeree Bryan capped off a 6-0 spurt, putting the Broncos up 77-67, the Broncos first field goal in almost four minutes. Two free throws from Tilly extended the run, and a three-pointer from Mahi was the dagger as the Broncos closed the game on a 13-7 stretch to take the match 84-74.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Elijah Mahi put in a career high 23 points, while Christoph Tilly had a season high 21, and Carlos Stewart Jr. tied a season high 20, the first time the Broncos have had three players score 20+ since Dec. 18, 2018 vs. USC.
• Tyeree Bryan added 11 for his sixth game of the season in double figures.
• The Broncos shot 27-56 (48.2%) from the field and 12-24 (50%) from beyond the arc, their second highest percentages this season since shooting 35-60 (58.3%) and 12-22 (54.5%) against UC Riverside.
• The Broncos won the battle on the glass, 35-30, improving to 7-1 in games when out-rebounding their opponent.
• The Broncos won their third straight game when leading at halftime (5-2 overall).
• The win marks the third straight for the Broncos and fourth in the last five games.
• The Broncos snapped a seven game win streak for the Braves.

 
POSTGAME COMMENTS:

Christoph (21 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast) joined @PassarelliVoice on the postgame show to discuss the big win#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/A9t38UBDlA

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) December 14, 2024

took care of business on the road ??

Hear from Coach Sendak on today's W in Las Vegas ??#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/p5N1SVLba9

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) December 15, 2024

 
UP NEXT: The Broncos return home to Leavey Center for a matchup against Kennesaw State on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. tip.