Jan. 1, 2004
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's basketball team will be looking to avenge its loss at Eastern Washington earlier this season when it hosts the Eagles Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the Leavey Center on the Mission Campus.
Tickets are available by calling 408/554-4660. The game will be broadcast live in the Bay Area on KSFB-AM (1220) and via the Internet on SantaClaraBroncos.com. In addition, a live GameTracker will provide real-time game statistics and play-by-play on SCU's official athletic website.
On Dec. 15, the Eagles ended Santa Clara's six-game win streak when they raced to a 75-65 victory in Cheney, Wash. The Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak by shooting 23-for-26 from the free throw line in the game as compared to Santa Clara's 6-for-10 showing. The win made Eastern 3-0 at home and 0-6 on the road at the time.
The Eagles (3-9) still haven't won a game away from home after dropping a 70-49 decision to Gonzaga Wednesday night at the Spokane Arena. Alvin Snow, who was held to just two points on 1-for-9 shooting in the first matchup against SCU, leads Eastern Washington in scoring with a 13.3 per game average. The 6'-2" guard is also tied for the team lead in rebounding, along with 6'-7" forward Marc Axton with an average of 4.2 per game. Axton and Josh Barnard are average 11.3 points per game.
Santa Clara, 8-6 on the season, is led by the Alaskan duo of Doron Perkins and Kyle Bailey, who combine to score 23.7 points per game, which accounts for 35.5 percent of Santa Clara's offensive output. Senior center Jim Howell leads the squad in rebounding with an average of 6.1 per game.
In its last outing, Santa Clara dropped a heartbreaking 68-66 loss to Brigham Young in the championship game of the 37th annual Cable Car Classic, hosted by the Broncos. Bailey and Travis Niesen were named to the all-tournament team, while Niesen also received the Kevin O'Connor award as the tournament's most inspirational player.
The Broncos opened the season with consecutive losses to Hawai'i and Villanova at the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational before rebounding with a win over Central Michigan in the tournament's seventh-place game. The win began a streak of six-straight victories for Santa Clara, which included wins over Fresno State and Pacific at home and San Jose State and Montana State on the road.
Santa Clara then dropped three-straight, which began with the 10-point loss at Eastern Washington. Two nights later, the Broncos fought valiantly, but lost a 94-71 game at the University of Oregon. Both Santa Clara road losses were without the services of Bailey, who missed the games due to an ankle injury.
Upon returning home, Santa Clara dropped a 66-61 overtime loss to Mississippi State, and then rebounded with a 64-63 double-overtime win over UMBC heading into the holiday break. In the first round of the Cable Car Classic, Santa Clara defeated Wisconsin-Milwaukee 66-64 in overtime before losing to BYU in the final.
Three of Santa Clara's six losses have come by five points or less and the Broncos have gone into overtime three times this year.
Saturday's game marks the final non-league game of the season for Santa Clara. The Broncos open West Coast Conference play Friday, January 9 at home against Bay Area rival San Francisco at 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net.
Tickets to all Bronco games are available by calling 408/554-4660 or by clicking here. A special ticket package that includes reserved or general admission seating for all seven WCC games is also available. clicking here.