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SANTA CLARA, Calif. - In his first outing after missing last season due to injury, fifth-year senior Marc Trasolini sparked Santa Clara to a come-from-behind victory in an exhibition contest against Hawaii Pacific. The Broncos overcame a second-half deficit to take a late lead and edge the sharp-shooting Sea Warriors 64-63.
Santa Clara shot 31.8 percent (21 of 67) from the field, including 20.7 percent from beyond the arc (6 of 29). The Broncos collected 42 rebounds, 12 assists, nine steals and five blocks. They shot 51.6 percent from the free throw line (16 of 31) with five turnovers. Hawaii Pacific shot 41.8 percent (23 of 55) from the field, including 50 percent from beyond the arc (13 of 26). The Sea Warriors collected 46 rebounds, 16 assists, two steals and two blocks. They shot 44.4 percent from the free throw line (4 of 9) with 20 turnovers.
Statistically, Trasolini led the Broncos. He picked up a double-double in his first game back on the court, scoring 22 points while adding 14 rebounds and three blocks. He was nine of 11 from the free throw line. Raymond Cowels III scored 13 points with six rebounds.
"I give Hawaii Pacific a lot of credit," said Trasolini. "They forced us into making some bad ones. I think we had some nerves in the first half and it was good to get those out. I knew in the second half I had to pick us up so that's what I did."
The Sea Warriors were led by Malte Ziegenhagen who scored 15 of his 17 points off of three-pointers.
Hawaii Pacific used its three-point shooting to build an early nine-point lead in the first half. Four Sea Warriors hit five threes in the first six-plus minutes.
Santa Clara found offensive life when Kevin Foster grabbed a rebound and tossed a full-court pass to Trasolini who converted on an easy basket to cut the lead to seven.
After the second media timeout, the Broncos found their three-point stroke. Foster and Clarke both hit treys to pull within two.
On the last possession of the first half, Ziegenhagen tallied his second three to give the Sea Warriors a 29-21 halftime lead.
In the first half, Santa Clara shot 24.2 percent (8 of 33) from the field, including 13 percent from beyond the arc (2 of 15). The Broncos collected 20 rebounds, five assists, four steals and one block. They shot 33.3 percent from the free throw line (3 of 9) with four turnovers. Hawaii Pacific shot 38.5 percent (10 of 26) from the field, including 46.7 percent from beyond the arc (7 of 15). The Sea Warriors collected 26 rebounds, one steal and two blocks. They shot 40 percent from the free throw line (2 of 5) with 10 turnovers.
After trading baskets to begin the second half, Jelany White hit another trey to give the Sea Warriors their largest lead of the game, 34-23.
Raymond Cowels III knocked down two from the charity stripe, the Broncos forced a turnover. Cowels III struck from downtown to cut the lead to six.
Entering the first media timeout, Hawaii Pacific led 36-29.
Down by 10, Foster found a cutting Trasolini for an easy dunk. On defense, Harrison jumped in front of a pass then found sprinting Cowels III - who converted on a fast-break layup to cut the lead to six.
Freshman Nate Kratch came up with a steal and Denzel Johnson hit a jumper. The freshman continued to provide a spark taking a charge on the next HPU possession. Johnson then hit a three to pull within three.
On the next possession, Johnson took a charge and Cowels III capitalized with a short jumper to cut the Sea Warrior lead to one point.
Hawaii Pacific answered with a 5-0 run before Cowels III hit a pair of free throws.
Trailing 49-42, Trasolini stole a ball and raced down the court to convert on the fast break. After a Bronco stop, he converted on a jumper to cut the lead to two.
However, Ziegenhagen knocked down his fourth trey to push the lead to five. Cowels III answered with a second-effort basket.
On defense, Trasolini swatted Marko Cukic and grabbed the second-chance rebound. He was fouled on the way down and converted both free throws to shrink the HPU lead to 52-51.
Ziegenhagen added two more for the Sea Warriors, but Santa Clara answered back. Foster hit a game-tying three.
Attila added a three of his own to give Hawaii Pacific a three-point lead, but Trasolini cut it to one with two clutch free throws.
Santa Clara took its first lead since 17:30 in the first half after Cowels III swatted a shot and Trasolini converted on a second-chance jumper.
Atanga added one from the charity stripe to give the Broncos a 59-57 lead.
Cukic pulled the Sea Warriors within one, but Roquemore came up clutch with a three-pointer.
With a 1:00 left, Santa Clara had its largest lead of the game, 62-58.
On the next HPU possession, Trasolini rejected a Leif Rodney shot to give Santa Clara possession within under a minute. The fifth-year senior added one free-throw to build the lead to 63-58.
The Sea Warriors continued to fight adding a jumper and a late three to trail 64-63 with 5.3 seconds left.
Roquemore broke the Hawaii Pacific's full-court press and Santa Clara completed the come-from-behind victory.
GAME NOTES: Starters for Santa Clara: Evan Roquemore, Marc Trasolini, Niyi Harrison, Kevin Foster, Raymond Cowels III ... starters for Hawaii Pacific: Malte Ziegenhagen, Jelany White, Kevin Attila, Marko Cukic ... Santa Clara scored 26 points off turnovers.