LOS ANGELES – After a mostly lackluster opening 15 minutes, the Santa Clara men's basketball team used a defensive adjustment and hot-shooting second half from its leading scorer to post a West Coast Conference road victory.
Jared Brownridge scored a game-high 26 points, including 23 in the second half, and the Broncos' zone defense helped keep the Loyola Marymount offense off balance just enough during a 76-72 win Thursday night.
Santa Clara (10-17, 6-9) turned an early second-half deficit into a 62-53 lead with 7:07 left, but the Lions (11-16, 4-12) cut it to 2 points twice in the last 3 minutes.
KJ Feagin scored a running layup following an offensive rebound with 56 seconds left to give the Broncos a 72-68 lead.
Brownridge and LMU's Brandon Brown, who posted a double-double with 20 points and 10 assists, each hit one of two free throws before a 3-pointer from Steven Haney cut the lead to 73-72 with 23 seconds left.
Feagin, who had 14 points and five assists, made one of two from the line after being intentionally fouled, but Haney was unable to convert behind the 3-point line and Brownridge connected twice from the free-throw line with 4 seconds left.
The Broncos went 20-for-25 from the line in the game, while the Lions were only 3 of 6.
Santa Clara connected on 10 of 20 from behind the 3-point line, led by Brownridge who was 5-for-10, including 4 of 5 in the second half.
LMU shot 56 percent in the second half, but the Broncos scored seven points off the Lions' four turnovers while not turning the ball over in the final 20 minutes. S
"No turnovers in the second half was huge for us," head coach Kerry Keating.
The Broncos trailed by 12 points twice in the first half after the Lions connected on 11 of their first 18 shots from the floor, but Santa Clara switched from man-to-man to a zone defense with less than 8 minutes on the clock.
"I wasn't sure if we could trust the zone because they're at home and the way they shot the ball [early] and can shoot the ball," Keating said. "No question the turning point was them missing against the zone."
The Broncos, who hit only six of their first 24 field goals in the game, closed the first half on a 17-5 run over the last 5:01 to cut the deficit to 34-31 heading into the locker room.
Haney scored 17 points, Shamar Johnson had 13 and Marin Mornar 11 for the Lions, who have lost six of their last seven games. Adom Jocko, the team's second-leading scorer, did not play for the second-straight game due to a back injury.
Brownridge hit five of his first six shots of the second half with his third 3-pointer tying the game at 46-all with 13:39 left. The Broncos pull ahead 53-51 just more than 2 minutes later on a layup by Feagin and went to score the next nine points of the game.
"It was a good win for our guys and they need something like this to get themselves moving forward," Keating said. "I'm proud of our guys."
Santa Clara received 25 points from its bench, including nine from Brendyn Taylor, who also had six rebounds.
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"Brendyn stepped up and did a great job for us tonight," Keating said.
Nate Kratch came off the bench for the first time this season and posted eight points and a game-high eight rebounds.
The Broncos continue their Southern California road trip Saturday when they play at Pepperdine. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.
Notes: With five 3-pointers, Jared Brownridge (266) moved from third to second on the school's career list, passing Steve Nash (263/1992-96). Brownridge has a ways to go to reach all-time leader Kevin Foster (431/2008-13)… Nate Kratch came off the bench for the first time this season as Matt Hubbard replaced him in the starting lineup. KJ Feagin, Jared Brownridge, Kai Healy, Emmanuel Ndumanya and Kratch had started the last 12 games.
The LMU Series: The series began in 1937 with the Broncos now holding an 87-58 lead. Santa Clara has won five of the last seven, including all three meetings last season. Brandon Brown scored a game-high 22 points and David Humphries scored 14 off the bench to help lead the Lions to a 76-66 win against the Broncos on Jan. 16 at Leavey Center. Santa Clara won 70-63 last year at LMU, snapping a three-game road losing streak in the series.
