Nov. 17, 2003
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Junior forward Jordan Legge registered a double-double with a 16-point, 15-rebound effort to lead the Santa Clara University men's basketball team to an 82-68 exhibition victory over San Francisco's Olympic Club tonight at the Leavey Center.
Four Broncos scored in double-figures, including Legge, a native of Mesa, Ariz. Travis Niesen scored 13 points, while Kyle Bailey and Scott Dougherty added 12 apiece. Former Stanford University standout Kris Weems led the Olympic Club with 26 points, which included a 9-for-18 performance from the field. Santa Clara played without the services of Ethan Rohde and Scott Borchart, who missed the game due to injury.
A crowd of approximately 750 people watched the Broncos play their only exhibition contest of the preseason. Santa Clara opens its regular-season Nov. 24 against the University of Hawai'i in the first round of the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawai'i. The contest is scheduled for an 8:30 p.m. (Pacific) tip-off and will be televised nationally by ESPN2. All Santa Clara games this season can be heard on the radio throughout the Bay Area on 1220 AM KSFB and worldwide via the Internet by clicking here.
Santa Clara forced 16 turnovers and limited the Olympic Club to just 29 percent shooting from beyond the three-point arc. The teams played with the NCAA's new experimental three-point line that extends the line from its original 19'-9" to 20'-6 1/4". In addition, the experimental rules, which will be used in the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational, features a trapezoid lane that widens the current lane at the end line by approximately 3'-11 inches on either side. The lane lines run approximately from that point on each end line to the intersection of the current free-throw line and lane lines. At its widest point (at the end line) the trapezoid lane's width is 6.0 meters or 19 feet, 8 ¾ inches. The current rectangular lane is 12 feet wide.
Regardless of the impact of the experimental rules, the Broncos opened the game with a stifling defense that limited the battle-tested Olympic Club to just five points on two-for-seven shooting in the first six minutes of play. During that opening stretch, Santa Clara's backcourt of Bailey, Doron Perkins and Dougherty combined for all 13 Bronco points. Legge's layup with 12:31 remaining in the half gave the Broncos an early 15-7 lead and was SCU's first points of the game by an interior player.
After a stretch in which Weems hit a three-pointer to bring the Olympic Club to within five points, Santa Clara went on a quick 8-0 run over a three minute span before Mike Gilmore silenced the crowd with a three-pointer for the Olympic Club. The two teams played fairly even the rest of the half with the Broncos extending their lead to as many as 14 points twice before settling on a 41-29 edge at intermission.
The Olympic Club would edge no closer than nine points in the second half, that coming early in the half on consecutive free throws by Brian O'Connor and a layup by Paul Bruso. The Broncos then went on a 16-7 run, capped by a Bailey three-point field goal, to extend their lead to 18 points at 65-47 with 10:39 remaining on a game. Travis Niesen connected on a jumper in the lane to extend that Bronco lead to a game-high 21 points with 8:04 remaining.
Bronco head coach Dick Davey substituted liberally throughout the contest in an effort to get looks at every player in a variety of situations. Eight players earned double-figures in playing time for the game. Among the newcomers seeing their first action of their careers off the bench were freshmen Sean Denison and Graham Neuburger. Redshirt freshman Scott Dougherty and junior transfer Doron Perkins earned starting berths in the game. The foursome combined to score 23 points on 9-of-19 from the field with seven boards.