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SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Evan Roquemore scored 12 points and handed out five assists to become Santa Clara's all-time assist leader, Jared Brownridge scored a game-high 21 points and Jerry Brown scored 16 to lead the Broncos to a 75-62 win over Radford in the first game of the Continental Tires Las Vegas Classic on Monday night at Leavey Center.
Santa Clara won its second straight and moved to 5-5 on the season. The Broncos host Sacred Heart on Wednesday in the second game of the tournament before traveling to Las Vegas for two more games. Radford slipped the 6-3 on the year.
Roquemore overtook Brian Jones as the school's career assist leader by notching a pair in the first half. He tied the record with a dish to Nate Kratch for an easy layup that gave the Broncos a 6-4 lead at 17:28 and tallied his record setting assist on Brownridge's 3-pointer with 61 seconds remaining .
Roquemore ended the first half with 518 career assists eclipsing the 517 Jones accumulated from 1996-2001.
For the game Santa Clara shot 50% from the field (24-of-48), including 46.7% from beyond the arc (7-of-15) and 76.9% from the free throw line (20-of-26). The Broncos collected 36 rebounds, 7 steals, 14 assists, 4 blocks and 13 turnovers.
Kratch scored 8 points with a season-high 10 rebounds and Brandon Clark also scored 8 points.
R.J. Price led the Highlanders with 16 points, Javonte Green scored 12 and Brandon Holcomb added 10 in the first ever meeting between the schools.
Radford shot 38.6% from the field (22-of-57), including 30.8% from beyond the arc (4-of-13) and 60.9% from the free throw line (14-of-23). The Highlanders collected 32 rebounds, 8 steals, 9 assists, 2 blocks and 10 turnovers.
The game was tied six times and the lead changed hands five times in the first half.
Brownridge hit his first of three 3-pointers 92 seconds into the game giving the Broncos their first lead at 4-2. His 3-pointer with 1:01 left, off Roquemore's record setting assist, capped a 13-2 run that gave Santa Clara its largest lead of the half at 33-25.
Included in the run was a 3-pointer by Andrew Papenfus, his first basket of the year, a layup by Kratch, two free throws from Clark and a Roquemore three.
Santa Clara took a 33-27 lead at the break and never trailed in the second half.
Brownridge hit his third 3-pointer of the game and Roquemore drilled a triple from the top of the key to cap a 9-0 run and stretch the lead to 14 at 53-39 with 10:18 to play.
The Highlanders wouldn't go quietly as Price scored nine points during a 13-4 Radford run that cut Santa Clara's lead to five at 57-52 with 7:44 to play.
With 4:28 left and the Broncos leading 62-56, Radford's Kion Brown grabbed a defensive rebound but hit Kratch with an elbow drawing a flagrant foul. Kratch made one of two foul shots then scored a layup on the ensuing possession to lift the lead to nine at 65-56.
A layup by Brown and a short jumper from Brownridge capped another 9-0 Bronco run that pushed the lead back up to 13 at 69-56 with 1:45 to play.
Brownridge, Clark and Roquemore each hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to secure the win. Santa Clara entered the game hitting just 65.8 percent of their foul shots but converted 20 of 26 attempts (76.9%). Clark and Brownridge each went 4 for 4 from the foul line.
NOTES: The Broncos used the same starting lineup (Brown, Clark, Brownridge, Kratch and Roquemore) for the third straight game ... Robert Garrett did not play ... John McArthur dressed but did not play missing his fourth straight game ... Roquemore also passed Mike Gervasoni (1,393) and moved into 15th place in career points with (1,395) ... Yannick Atanga had 2 blocks and has 2 or more in 23 career games ... Jared Brownridge (21), Jerry Brown (16) and Radford's Kion Brown (9) combined to score 46 points ... Brownridge has scored 45 points in the last two games after scoring just 19 in the previous three ... Nate Kratch played a season-high 30 minutes ... Roquemore reached double figures in scoring for the 77th time in his career.