SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Jared Brownridge scored 20 points and Jarvis Pugh registered a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, helping Santa Clara men's basketball down Life Pacific, 83-65, in Saturday night's exhibition game in Leavey Center.
Matt Hauser and Nate Kratch each scored 14 for the Broncos who pulled away by shooting 65 percent from the floor in the second half.
Michial Ramez tallied a game-high 26 points on 9 of 15 shooting from the floor, including 5-for-7 from behind the 3-point line, for the Warriors who led midway through the first half, but the Broncos went on a 22-5 run over the last 8:42 to build a 38-25 lead at the break.
Life Pacific shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half to remain within striking distance. After the Broncos led by as many as 19, Ramez canned a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 58-46 with 10:48 left.
Hauser then started a 9-2 run with a jumper that was capped with an emphatic fastbreak dunk by Pugh pushing the lead back to 19. The Warriors never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.
"For the most part we were pretty efficient on offense, even when we didn't score we got pretty good looks" Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek said. "On the other hand I thought our defense especially in the second half left a lot to be desired. It was a difficult team to match up with in many regards because they really did a nice job spacing the floor playing small ball across the floor."
Life Pacific shot 41 percent from the floor, including 48 percent beyond the 3-point line, in the game, but was outrebounded 41-24.
Brownridge went 5 of 10 from the field, including 2-for-5 on 3-pointers. Brownridge (four) and Hauser (four), the primary ball handlers with KJ Feagin out of action, combined for nine assists and no turnovers.
Kai Healy scored 10 points on 3-for-6 shooting, all from behind the 3-point line.
The game was Sendek's first as head coach on the bench in Leavey Center.
"All these experiences are important to us from a learning standpoint," Sendek said. "Now that we have that 40 minutes on film we'll be able to break it down and study it and learn more about our team and use it as a teaching aid."
Four players saw action for the first time in a Santa Clara uniform. Redshirt freshman Tony Lewis started at center, while newcomers Julian Roche, Akil Douglas and Evan Crawford saw time as reserves.
The Broncos played without three regulars. In addition to Feagin, who broke a bone in his foot last month and is out of action indefinitely, sophomore guard Evan Wardlow and junior forward Matt Hubbard sat out.
Santa Clara opens the regular season Friday with the start of the 50th Annual Cable Car Classic. The Broncos face Northern Arizona at 7 p.m. in Leavey Center. UC Davis and Tennessee State round out the field in the three-day, six-game tournament.
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