SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara men's basketball defeated Towson 89-70 in Monday night's 2026-27 season opener inside the Leavey Center. The Broncos led 43-35 at halftime and used a 10-0 second-half run to take a double-digit lead that they never looked back from in the 19-point victory.
Sophomore
Brad Longcor III, in his collegiate debut, finished with 18 points, four rebounds and 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range as one of six Broncos to score in double figures.
Sash Gavalyugov added 17 points on 4-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc, and
David Castillo logged 14 points with three 3-pointers and a 5-of-6 mark at the free-throw line in his Bronco debut.
Elijah Mahi and
Fedor Zugic posted 11 points apiece while
Chris Tadjo, also making his SCU debut, tallied 10 points to go with a team-best seven rebounds and three blocks.
Gavalyugov scored the Broncos' first eight points, and Santa Clara (1-0) used early 3-point shooting from Gavalyugov,
Jake Ensminger and Mahi to stay in front. After Towson (0-1) cut the margin to 29-26, Santa Clara answered with a push that included two
Thierry Darlan free throws, a Mahi jumper and Longcor's fastbreak 3-pointer before taking a 43-35 lead into halftime.
Towson pulled within 53-45 early in the second half, but Santa Clara responded with the decisive 10-0 run behind two Castillo 3-pointers and a Longcor fastbreak layup off a Mahi steal. Zugic and Gavalyugov later added 3-pointers as the Broncos stretched the lead to as much as 20 down the stretch.
GAME NOTES:
- Santa Clara improved to 10-1 in season openers under
Herb Sendek and have won their last nine straight.
- SCU knocked down 14 3-pointers (14-of-33) and was a crisp 86 percent at the charity stripe (19-of-22).
- The Broncos dished out 21 assists on 28 baskets.
- SCU improved to 66-19 (.776) inside the Leavey Center since 2021-22 and are 15-1 over the last two seasons.
- A total of five Broncos made their collegiate debuts - Longcor,
Noah Badibanga,
Eli Jolin,
Brayde Kuykendall and
Alex Ensor.
- Four other players made their SCU debuts - Castillo, Tadjo, Zugic and
Sidi Gueye.
- Gavalyugov tallied his sixth-career game with at least 15 or more points.
- Mahi reached double-figure scoring for the 43rd time in his SCU career. He did a little bit of everything for the Broncos with five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
POSTGAME COMMENTS:
NEXT UP:
The Broncos host Milwaukee on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at 7 p.m. at Leavey Center in Santa Clara, California.
