March 8, 2008
SAN DIEGO (AP) -John Bryant scored 25 points, including two free throws with three seconds left, to lead Santa Clara past San Francisco 51-50 on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference tournament.
Bryant added 17 rebounds and seven blocks for the fourth-seeded Broncos (15-15), who will take on top-seeded Gonzaga in the semifinals. Mitch Henke added 10 points for Santa Clara.
Santa Clara trailed 31-24 at halftime, but rallied against the fifth-seeded Dons and is two games away from capturing its first tournament title since 1993.
Vince Polakovic scored 17 points to lead San Francisco (10-21), which shot poorly in the first half (10-of-30) and even worse after the break (5-of-18). But the Dons forced 19 turnovers that they turned into 20 points to keep it close.
Santa Clara led 49-48 with 20 seconds left when Dean Hadley was fouled. He made both free throws to put San Francisco ahead, but Hyman Taylor fouled Bryant with three seconds left, setting up the winning free throws.