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Brandon Clark led all scorers with 23 points as Santa Clara snapped its seven-game losing streak to win 69-62 at San Diego Saturday night. There were 11 ties and 12 lead changes. Santa Clara is 11-15 and 4-9 in the WCC. San Diego is 13-13 and 4-9 in the WCC.
"We needed this one tonight and we got it," said Bronco head coach Kerry Keating. "It's our third road win this year in the WCC and we are happy to have it. We did a great job on Dennis Kramer tonight – he scores 15 a game – and he had two tonight. We did a good job of attacking the zone because we have had trouble with that this year."
Santa Clara shot 42.6 percent from the field (23 of 54), including 50.0 percent from beyond the arc (4 of 12). The Broncos shot 76.5 percent from the free throw line (13 of 17). They collected 39 rebounds, 10 assists, five blocks, seven steals and turned the ball over 15 times.
Scoring team highs in three categories, Brandon Clark scored 23 points with four assists and four steals. Clark scored 20+ for the 13th time this year. Jared Brownridge scored 17 with three threes to tally 71 on the year. He is just the second Bronco in school history to hit 70+ threes his freshman year. The first was Kevin Foster, who hit 85 in 2008-09).
Yannick Atanga led the Broncos with seven rebounds.
San Diego shot 37.7 percent from the field (20 of 53), including 33.3 percent from beyond the arc (4 of 12). USD shot 62.1 percent from the free throw line (18 of 29). They collected 34 rebounds, 12 assists, seven blocks, nine steals and turned the ball over 10 times.
The Toreros were led by Duda Sanadze scored 22. Johnny Dee added 18 and Chris Anderson scored 11 and a game-high eight assists.
Atanga tipped from sky-high in Clark's miss to open the second half at 19:27. The team's traded buckets with Richard's jumper giving SCU a 39-37 lead at 18:01. Over the next four minutes, the Broncos outscored USD 3-1 at the free throw line to take a 42-38 lead at 14:29.
Sanadze scored back-to-back baskets, including a three-point play, and USD led by one at 13:31. His basket at 13:55 was the team's first field goal since 19:08. A floater by Clark gave SCU the lead once again at 12:35 and it was SCU's first basket since 18:01.
Brownridge's threes on back-to-back possessions put SCU up, but Simi Fajemisin hit a pair of free throws and then scored inside as USD led 51-49 with 9:48.
Brown muscled the ball in and scored the and one to put SCU up again at 8:31. A pair of USD free throws tied it up, but in the next Bronco possession, Clark drilled a three from the top of the key to put SCU up 55-52 at 6:49. There were 11 ties and 12 lead changes at this point in the game.
Brownridge threw up a three after a floater by Dee and SCU led by four at 5:37. Kratch hit a three at 2:50 and the Broncos led 61-56 at 2:48. The five points were the largest lead of the night for the Broncos.
Roquemore's two free throws at 2:07 made the lead five again. With 457 free throws made now, Roquemore is just 13 from tying the career school record set by Ken Sears (470, 1951-55).
Sanadze made the second free throw with 55 seconds left and Anderson fouled Clark and he sank both to put SCU up by six.
The first half featured five ties and six lead changes as the Broncos led 35-34 at the half. Brownridge opened the game with a three at 19:36 after going 0-6 beyond the arc at BYU. San Diego then ran off an 11-2 run with Brownridge's six footer in the key being the only bright spot at 17:23.
Clark's steal at 15:12 resulted in a lay-up and seemed to spark the Broncos. John McArthur's eight footer pulled the Broncos within two at 14:06. Kratch's three from the corner tied it up 12-12 at 12:52. Clark hit back-to-back threes and then connected again inside to make it 20-14 Broncos.
The Toreros were back up by two following Dee's back-to-back threes and Thomas Jacobs scoring a missed shot by Anderson. Clark's third three of the game at 4:49 put the Broncos up 30-26.
Anderson tied it up 32-32 with a pair of free throws at 1:57 with both Clark and Dee on the bench with two fouls. After Atanga turned it over, Anderson converted for a basket to put USD up 34-32 at 1:33.
McArthur muscled the ball in with Kok all over him and he sank the free throw to make it 35-34 Broncos with 26.4 seconds left in the half. The Broncos led 35-34 at the half.
Game Notes: Santa Clara started the following for the seventh game in a row: Brandon Clark, Jalen Richard, Jared Brownridge, John McArthur and Yannick Atanga … The Broncos are 7-2 this season when leading at halftime and 85-32 under head coach Kerry Keating in his seven years at SCU.