Nov. 18, 2000
FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The Santa Clara men's basketball team played a classic tale of two halves tonight in a 70-51 win over Davidson in the second round of the Top of the World Classic.
The Broncos connected on just five shots from the field from the first half against Davidson, including just two during the first 18:45 of the game. A 16-for-20 performance from the free throw line helped Santa Clara keep with a two-points, 30-28, of the Wildcats heading into the locker room.
In the second half, it was the Wildcats who could not find the basket, while Santa Clara went on a scoring tear. The Broncos outscored Davidson by a 42-21 margin to pull away with a 70-51 win. Santa Clara improved to 1-1 on the season, while Davidson dropped to 0-2.
"We executed a little bit better offensively," said Bronco head coach Dick Davey. "We got the ball inside better. We were going on a stretch there in the first 18 minutes of the game where we had just two field goals. We weren't able to make anything or get any rebounds. So, I was encouraged by the second half."
Senior forward Jamie Holmes (Merced, Calif.) scored a career-high 23 points, while guard Brian Jones (Carson, Calif.) added 19 to lead the Broncos. Emeka Erege led Davidson (0-2) to a 30-28 halftime lead with 9 points in the first half, but the Wildcats shot only 27 percent from the field for the game. Erege finished with 14 points.
Santa Clara scored just two field goals in the first 18:45 of the game but made 16 free throws during that stretch. The success from the charity stripe and an eight-point flurry in the final 1:15 helped the Broncos enter halftime down just two points to Davidson.
Santa Clara started the second half of the game with a 16-0 run, keyed by eight points from Holmes during that stretch. A Holmes jumper gave the Broncos a 16-point lead at 50-34 with 13:27 left in the game. Davidson made a run midway through the second half to pull within 11 points. But a combined 12 points by Jones and junior Brian Vaka (Sparks, Nev.) helped Santa Clara secure the 19-point victory.
Santa Clara will play the winner of the Alaska-Fairbanks versus Jackson State contest taking place Saturday night.
Noteworthy: Jamie Holmes' 23 points eclipsed his career-high of 17 points set twice last season ... For the second-straight game, Brian Jones inscribed the initials "J.J." on his ankle tape during the game in tribute to departed supporter Jim Jennings ... Freshman Jason Morrissette scored the first points of his young college career. He knocked-down back-to-back shots in the second half and his final basket extended a 16-0 run for the Broncos ... Santa Clara has scored less than 30 points in the first half of each of its first two games this season but is averaging 40 in the second half in the two games ... At one point in the game there were four first-year players on the court together - Jason Morrissette (Los Angeles, Calif.), Kyle Bailey (Fairbanks, Alaska), Jason Westphal (Gilroy, Calif.) and Jim Howell (Sea Rock Ore.) ... Santa Clara equaled its 28-point first half scoring total in the first 11-minutes of the second half.