SAN FRANCISCO - The Santa Clara men's basketball team (9-6, 1-1) saw five players score in double figures for the third game in a row as they fell to the San Francisco Dons (12-3, 2-0) 97-94 in overtime at The Sobrato Center. The Broncos had a chance to win it at the end of regulation, but came up just short, and were outscored 11-8 in the overtime period. Johnny O'Neil and Christoph Tilly led the Broncos with 20 points each, while Tyeree Bryan and Carlos Stewart Jr. each added 13 points respectively, and Adama-Alpha Bal netted 11.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Dons (12-3, 2-0) jumped out to an early 7-2 lead after a bucket by Malik Thomas, who proved to be a thorn in the Bronco's side all night, putting in a game high 34 points. A 19-6 extended run for the Broncos gave them a 21-13 lead after back-to-back treys from Johnny O'Neil. The Dons cut it to four, but a layup from Elijah Mahi capped a 9-3 spurt, giving the Broncos their largest lead of the half, 33-23, with eight minutes left.
• Thomas again got hot, hitting his third three of the night to cut the lead to four again, and an 8-0 run capped off by a trey from Marcus Williams, who finished with 23 points, gave the Dons their first lead of the game, 43-41 with two minutes left. A Tilly layup put the Broncos up two at the break, 47-45, their third straight game scoring over 45 points in the first half.
• The Dons used an 8-0 run in the second half to take a 58-54 advantage after a Williams trey, but the Broncos answered the punch, scoring five in a row to reclaim the lead 59-58. Both teams traded blows falling into a 67-67 deadlock going into the under eight media timeout that would last for most of the second half.
• A 7-3 Broncos spurt put them up 84-80 with 47 seconds left and a Tilly layup made it 86-83 with under 30 seconds left. A foul gave Thomas three free throws to tie the game, giving the Broncos the final possession. A stepback trey from Stewart fell off the mark, but an offensive rebound from Tilly and a foul put him at the line with two seconds left. Tilly missed the front-end of the one-and-one, sending the game into overtime.
• A layup from Tilly put the Broncos up 91-89, but a quick 5-0 spurt put the Dons up three with a minute left. Two free throws from Bryan cut it to one, but a foul from the Broncos gave the Dons two free-throws to put them ahead 96-93. The Broncos had multiple chances to tie it at the end, but a couple missed free throws and three point jumpers from Stewart came up just short as the Dons survived, holding off the Broncos 97-94, as Santa Clara was unable to find a bucket for the final three minutes of overtime.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Johnny O'Neil had a season high 20 pts, recording his second double-double of the season adding 10 rebounds, while Christoph Tilly had 20 points, the second time this season the Broncos have had two players score over 20 points.
• Carlos Stewart Jr. had his ninth game of the season in double figures with 13 and added a career high 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
• Tyeree Bryan also added 13, his seventh straight game in double figures, averaging 15.0 ppg in that span.
• Adama-Alpha Bal had his fourth straight game (10th overall) in double figures with 11 points, avg. 19.3 ppg over the last four contests.
• The Broncos hit 11 treys, extending their streak to hitting 10 or more for the eighth straight game.
• The Broncos shot over 50% for the fourth straight game (and fifth overall), going 32-63 (50.8%) from the floor.
• The Broncos fell to 0-2 in overtime games this season.

POSTGAME COMMENTS:

hard fought battle.

Hear about it from Coach Sendek??#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/cVhUSCkJDl

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) December 31, 2024

 
UP NEXT: The Broncos will hit the road for a quick trip to SoCal for a matchup with the USD Toreros on Thursday for a 7:00 p.m. tip. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.