Feb. 3, 2007
MORAGA, Ca. (AP) - Santa Clara's Scott Dougherty scored 23 points to lead the Broncos over Saint Mary's 63-57 on Saturday.
The victory gave Santa Clara (16-7, 6-2) undisputed possession of second place in the West Coast Conference two days after the team's coach, Dick Davey, announced he will retire at the end of the season. Saint Mary's fell to 13-11, 5-3.
Dougherty went eight-for-14 from the floor, including four-of-eight from 3-point range. He also had a team-high five rebounds.
Saint Mary's overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half to take the lead 53-52. But Dougherty hit two free throws to stave off the Gael's run, and a Brett Collins' basket for Saint Mary's was disallowed because of a foul by Collins.
After Collins' foul, Sean Denison put Santa Clara up by three with a dunk. Dennison had 12 and Brody Angley 11 for Santa Clara.
On the next Saint Mary's possession Todd Golden turned the ball over, and Danny Pariseau scored to put Santa Clara ahead 58-52.
 Angley scored 11 against the Gaels Saturday.  |
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Saint Mary's Diamon Simpson, averaging 17.1 points in conference play, was held to six points but did have 10 rebounds. Wayne Hunter and Omar Samhan each had 10 for Saint Mary's.
Santa Clara built a four-point halftime lead as Saint Mary's missed three shots and committed four of its 17 turnovers in its first seven possessions of the second half.
After Collins' basket got Saint Mary's on the scoreboard in the second half, Dougherty hit a trey to give Santa Clara its biggest lead 45-34.
Collins led all scorers with 27 points, 21 coming in the first half when he invigorated Saint Mary's from off the bench, while hitting seven of eight shots, including five-of-six from 3-point range. Collins' nine baskets equaled the number made by the rest of the team.
Santa Clara shot 64 percent in the first half, hitting 16-of-25. Saint Mary's limited the Broncos to 35.7 percent shooting (10-for-28) in the second half, but Santa Clara limited Saint Mary's to 37.5 percent shooting for the game. The game was the 200th in the series between the schools and the 68th involving Davey, who was an assistant at Santa Clara for 15 years before taking over as head coach for 15 years.
Before the game, Saint Mary's honored Davey and Gael's head coach Randy Bennett presented him with an argyle sweater, which is one of Davey's trademarks. Saint Mary's fans gave him a standing ovation. "I really appreciated it, but you're so into the game that it was a little embarrassing," Davey said. "I thought it might be a standing boo."
Dougherty, a fifth-year senior, said the announcement of Davey's resignation was not a distraction "It's something that's there. If anything, it's a positive. We all want him to go out on the highest note possible."
The Broncos now face San Francisco on Monday, Feb. 5 at 8:00 p.m. PT at the Leavey Center in another key WCC showdown. The game will be televised live on ESPNU. At halftime of the game, the Broncos will honor former Santa Clara All-Americans Bud Ogden and Dennis Awtrey by hanging their jerseys from the rafters.
