Jan. 22, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO - Scott Dougherty scored a career high 19 points, including a pair of free throws with 12.6 seconds remaining, to help Santa Clara beat San Francisco 61-58 on Monday night. The Broncos are now 14-6 on the season to equal their best start since the 1994-95 season. With the win, SCU also tied last season's win total for the year.
Sean Denison, Santa Clara's leading scorer, entered the game having made 20 of his last 24 field goal tries. He missed his first three attempts and finally sank a basket with 12:12 remaining to play. He finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double and the Broncos (14-6, 4-1 WCC) retained a share of first place. For the third straight game, the Broncos got off to a slow start in the first half and found themselves trailing 15-6 at the 12:20 mark. Joey Kaempf then knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to bring Santa Clara close before Calvin Johnson nailed a long three to tie the score.
However, the Dons shot 55 percent in the first half and held a slight rebounding edge to take a 30-26 advantage into the intermission
Manny Quezada scored 16 points to lead the Dons (7-13, 3-2), who lost their second straight after a three-game winning streak. Armando Surratt added 15 points and Johnny Dukes matched his season high with 13 points.
San Francisco played without sophomore guard Antonio Kellogg, who will sit out three games to concentrate on academics.
After trading the lead five times in the second half, Dougherty's 3-pointer with 6:49 left put the Broncos ahead to stay at 52-49. Dougherty was 5-of-6 from the field in the second half, including making all four of his long range attempts.
Surratt's 3-pointer at 1:48 drew the Dons within one but Santa Clara was able to maintain its edge. San Francisco had two chances to take the lead in the final minute, missing a 3-pointer and a short jumper. On the Dons' final possession, Brody Angley and Mitch Henke combined to strip Surratt and the clock ran out before USF could get a shot off.
Dougherty scored 16 points in the second half, including 11 in a 14-4 run midway through the half that turned a 34-28 deficit into a 42-38 lead for SCU.
Santa Clara returns to the Leavey Center for two games next weekend. The Broncos host the Loyola Marymount Lions on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 2:00 p.m. PT in another WCC battle. At halftime of the game, Santa Clara will honor 1955 All-American Ken Sears, raising his No. 55 to the rafters. Then on Monday, Jan. 29, SCU will take on the Pepperdine Waves at 8:00 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on ESPNU. At halftime of the Pepperdine Waves, Nick Vanos' No. 32, which is the only retired number for Santa Clara, will be hung alongside Sears, Bob Feerick and Steve Nash.
