Jan. 20, 2007
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - Sean Denison scored 16 points and John Bryant had 15 rebounds as Santa Clara beat San Diego 61-47 on Saturday.
The Broncos started slowly and trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half before coming back to deal the Toreros their first loss at home this year. Santa Clara had not won at San Diego since 2003.
The Broncos dominated the boards and played suffocating defense, especially in the second half. For the game, SCU outrebounded San Diego 47-26 on the glass and forced USD to shoot 29 percent from the floor. With the Broncos contesting every shot, San Diego made just two field goals in the second half and shot nine percent (2-22).
Denison, who was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor, keyed a 16-3 run at the start of the second half as Santa Clara erased an eight-point deficit to take a 39-34 lead. Denison is now shooting 61 percent on the year and 83 percent in West Coast Conference contests.
With Santa Clara trailing 34-31 with just over 15 minutes to play, Mitch Henke scored three straight baskets to give the Broncos their first lead since early in the first half at 37-34. Henke finished the game with eight points off the bench.
Bryant also scored six of his eight points and pulled down eight of his 15 rebounds in the second half, while Joey Kaempf and Brody Angley added six each for the Broncos.
Kaempf's biggest basket came after the Toreros had cut a five-point Bronco lead to two points with just under eight minutes to play. Kaempf came off a screen and drilled a three-pointer to put the Broncos up by five points. Bryant then scored two straight baskets from in close to stretch the lead to nine and give SCU some breathing room.
Gyno Pomare scored a team-high 17 points with 12 rebounds for San Diego. Brandon Johnson had 13 points and Ross DeRogatis had 10 points.
The Broncos improved to 13-6 overall, 3-1 in the WCC.
San Diego is 12-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
Santa Clara is now in a four-way tie for first place in the conference and the Broncos take on San Francisco, one of the co-leaders, on Monday night at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco. The game, which tips off at 7:00 p.m., will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet.
