SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's basketball cruised to an 83-53 opening night victory over Cal Poly Humboldt to begin the 2025-26 season on a high note. Eight Broncos scored seven or more points with senior
Elijah Mahi leading the charge with 14 on the evening as SCU picked up their seventh consecutive win in season-openers under
Herb Sendek's direction.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Broncos (1-0) opened the game on a quick 6-0 run to grab the early lead which quickly grew to 34-16 with just over five minutes to following a 16-0 run.
- Santa Clara shot 51 percent in the opening half and forced nine steals as part of 11 total Lumberjack turnovers that resulted in 18 first-half points.
- SCU went into cruise control in the second half, leading by no less than 16 points for the rest of the evening.
- The Broncos closed the game by scoring the final 13 points to secure the 30-point victory.
- Santa Clara shot 47 percent for the evening while holding Cal Poly Humboldt to just 32 percent (20-of-62).
- The 3-ball, which was a key component to SCU's success last season, continued to prove to be a point of emphasis as the Broncos put up 36 attempts with 10 finding their mark.
- The Broncos pulled down 47 rebounds and capitalized on 17 total turnovers with 22 points off of them.
NOTABLE NUMBERS:
- Sash Gavalyugov, Francis Chukwudebelu, Thierry Darlan, Allen Graves and Juan Reyna all made their Bronco debuts in the victory.
- Darlan had a memorable collegiate debut, finishing with 13 points (10 coming in the second half), 13 rebounds, two assists and a block. He is the first Bronco to record a double-double in his SCU Debut since Josh Martin in 2018-19.
- Mahi was 5-of-9 from the field for his team-best 14 points. He also dished out three assists and had a career-high two blocks.
- Ensminger led all scorers in the opening 20 minutes with 10 points and finished the game with 12 for his seventh-career double-figure scoring outing.
- Christian Hammond got the starting nod and made the most of his minutes by tying his career-high scoring total with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He also posted career-bests in rebounds (9) and steals (5).
- Gavalyugov turned in eight points and three assists while Chukwudebelu, a freshman center from Dallas, Texas, scored seven points to go with seven rebounds and four assists in his collegiate debut.
- The Broncos came away with 14 steals as a team, their most since Nov. 5, 2019 when they also tallied 14 against UC Santa Cruz.
- Santa Clara is now 9-1 overall in season-openers under Sendek.
POSTGAME COMMENTS:
HIGHLIGHTS:
UP NEXT:
The Broncos will make a quick turnaround to host McNeese State on Friday, Nov. 7, in a 7:00 p.m. tip inside the Leavey Center.
