Dec. 11, 2008
After a week off for final exams, Santa Clara will host its second straight home game on Sat., Dec. 13 when Notre Dame de Namur comes calling at 7 pm to the Leavey Center. The Broncos will then travel to back-to-back road games next week, first playing at UNLV on Wed., Dec. 17 before traveling to Stockton, Calif. to play Pacific on Sat., Dec. 20.
Santa Clara, 4-4, has won three straight games, including the first two on the road. The Broncos won 71-68 at Montana Nov. 30 and then defeated cross-town rival San Jose State 59-56 on Dec. 3 behind John Bryant's 21 rebounds and 20 points.
The Broncos' third victory was a 51-32 win over Sacramento State at home. The 32 points for the Hornets were the fewest a team had scored against SCU since Feb. 14, 1961 when Santa Clara defeated San Jose State, 30-29. It was also the fewest points Sacramento State has scored as a Division I team, dating back to 1991-92. In addition, the Broncos blocked 10 shots and had just 10 turnovers, both bests under second-year head coach Kerry Keating.
Prior to the three-game winning streak, the Broncos played in the NIT Season Tip-off Tournament with two games in Arizona Nov. 17 and 18 (lost to UAB and Florida Atlantic) and two games at Georgia Nov. 24 and 25 (lost at Georgia and to Arizona).
Starting seven of the first eight games, freshman point guard Troy Alexander will sit this game out after suffering a left shoulder sprain in the Sacramento State game. Alexander, who averages 21.3 mpg and leads the team with 2.5 apg, is listed as day to day.
LISTEN!
The Santa Clara-Notre Dame de Namur game will be broadcast live at 7 pm on Sat., Dec. 13 via the Bronco Radio Network, which consists of KDOW 1220 AM and Broncos All-Access on the web at www.SantaClaraBroncos.com. The pregame show will begin at 6:30 pm. Anthony Passarelli is in his second season as the Santa Clara men's basketball play-by-play announcer after six seasons of handling those duties for SCU women's basketball.
In addition, head coach Kerry Keating can be heard on KDOW 1220 AM on Sunday evenings from 8:30 - 9 pm in his radio spotlight on The Sports Ramble. The Sports Ramble, hosted by Chetan Chaudhari, runs on KDOW 1220 AM from 8 - 10 pm on Sunday evenings.
If you are out of the listening area Bronco fans, KDOW is streamed online live at www.1220kdow.com so go to their website and listen live!
SCU Holiday Food Drive
Santa Clara has pledged support for the 2008 SCU Holiday Food Drive benefitting Second Harvest Food Bank. The food drive ends on Sat., Dec. 13 at the Bronco game vs. Notre Dame de Namur and fans are encouraged to donate canned goods or non-perishable food items at the Leavey Center entrance gate that night.
Donations will be contributed to the Second Harvest Food Bank of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. This holiday season, Second Harvest Food Bank has been overwhelmed by requests for support. Each month Second Harvest seeks to feed over 176,000 hungry individuals -- 67% are families with children & 12% are senior citizens. Fans are encouraged to donate generously to assist those less fortunate.
vs. Notre Dame de Namur
Notre Dame de Namur, 3-4, has won its last two games with a 61-52 win over Menlo College on Dec. 1 and a 60-56 win over CSU Maritime on Dec. 6. They have two players in double figures with Dan Bergeron scoring 11.6 ppg and Bennie Murray scoring 10.0 ppg. Bergeron also leads the team with 6.3 rpg.
The Argonauts are led by head coach George Puou and he is 91-114 in his ninth year at Notre Dame de Namur. They return one starter and three lettermen from a team that went 10-16 last year and finished fifth in the Pacific West Conference at 6-12.
Only one in the country!
According to the Atlantic Sun Conference, John Bryant is now the only player in the country to have at least tied for the team lead in both scoring and rebounding in every game this season. Bryant shared the scoring lead in one game (17 points on Nov. 17 vs. UAB with Perry Petty).
Campbell's Jonathan Rodriguez had led his team in scoring and rebounding for the first five games as well until he was the top rebounder, but far down the list of top scorers in the team's 88-72 loss at VMI on Dec. 9.
Bryant, this week's WCC Co-Player of the Week, was named to the 2008 pre-season COLLEGEHOOPS.NET Mid-Major All-America second team. Bryant led the West Coast Conference in rebounds and blocks and was second in scoring as a junior; and was named to the preseason All-WCC team after picking up first team honors last year.
Already the school record holder in blocks (183), he is inching closer to Dennis Awtrey's school record of 1,135 rebounds. At No. 6 on the career list, Bryant has 788 career rebounds. He is No. 20 in career points at 1,222. He needs to hit 515 points to pass career school-record holder Kurt Rambis who scored 1,736 point during his Bronco career.
