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SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Jared Brownridge made a Bronco freshman record seven 3-point baskets on his way to a game-high 24 points and Julian Clarke added a career-best 13 points as the Broncos pulled away in the second half and defeated La Sierra, 97-61, on Saturday night at Leavey Center.
The Broncos won for the second time in five games and improved to 4-5 on the season. La Sierra drops to 2-10. Santa Clara has a quick turnaround as the Broncos will host Radford on Monday in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic.
"This year we are playing four or five guys for the first time," said Bronco head coach Kerry Keating. "We will have our ups and downs and bumps and bruises. This stretch we are beginning tonight will be some trial by fire - but we will get ready by going through this. It will help us when WCC play comes around in two weeks."
For the game Santa Clara shot 48.4% from the field (31-of-64), including 40% from beyond the arc (12-of-30) and 63.9% from the free throw line (23-of-36). The Broncos collected 42 rebounds, 11 steals, 23 assists, five blocks and four turnovers.
Denzel Johnson added a season-high 14 points and 10 of the 11 players scored. Santa Clara's three freshmen (Brownridge, Nate Kratch and Jalen Richard) combined to score 39 points while playing 73 minutes.
La Sierra shot 38% from the field (19-of-50), including 35.3% from beyond the arc (6-of-17) and 65.4% from the free throw line (17-of-26). The Golden Eagles collected 32 rebounds, two steals, seven assists, one block and 14 turnovers.
Daveon Woods led La Sierra with 22 points. Ian Mozeleski added 12 points on 4 of 8 three-point shooting and Wolfgang Wood scored 10.
The Broncos got off to a hot start making their first five 3-point tries and jumping out to a 16-5 lead five-and-half minutes into the contest.
Evan Roquemore started the barrage with a three just 27 seconds into the game to tie Travis Niesen for 16th place on SCU's career scoring list.
Wood's layup a minute in closed the gap to 3-2 and that's as close as the Golden Eagles would get the rest of the night.
Brandon Clark, Kratch and Brownridge with a pair, scored 3-point baskets and Jerry Brown added a conventional three-point play to give the Broncos a 19-5 lead at 13:43.
Roquemore assisted on Brownridge's first 3-point basket at 15:57 breaking a tie with Steve Nash for second place on the school's career list. Roquemore finished with six assists and needs just two more to surpass Brian Jones for the school record.
An 11-1 Santa Clara run was highlighted by a nice reverse layup from Roquemore with 2:45 left in the half giving the Broncos their largest lead of the first half at 34-17.
Santa Clara limited the Golden Eagles to two field goals over the final eight minutes of the first half and took a 39-24 lead at the break.
The Broncos outscored La Sierra 58-37 in the second half and scored their most points in a game since beating Simpson College 106-66 in in the 2012-13 season opener.
Brownridge drained his seventh 3-pointer of the game at 13:52 during a 10-1 Broncos run that stretched the lead to 57-38 lead. He broke the record of six which was set by Steve Nash in 1993 and matched by Brandon Rohe in 2002 and Calvin Johnson in 2005. His point total was the highest since the season opener and was more than his last three games combined (19).
Kevin Foster '13, Santa Clara's career points and 3-point field goal leader, made five 3-pointers three times during his freshman year and finished his career with 431 threes - a WCC record - 168 more than two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash '96 made in his career (263). Foster made 7 threes twice, 8 threes twice and 9 threes once, but never scored more than 5 his rookie year. Foster owns the school record of 9, set vs. Air Force on Mar. 18, 2011.
Robert Garrett scored three of his season-high eight points during the run that pushed the lead to 24 at 62-38 with 13:30 left in the game.
Clarke scored all of his career-best point total in the second half, including six during a 10-2 run over the final four minutes of the game. He drilled his second three of the game with 3:30 left and hit all three free throws after being fouled while attempting a three with just under two minutes left.
The Broncos dished out 23 assists with just four turnovers and scored 21 points off 14 La Sierra turnovers. Brownridge posted a game and season-high 7 assists and seven players had at least one.
NOTES: The Broncos started the same five for the third consecutive game; Jerry Brown, Brandon Clark, Jared Brownridge, Evan Roquemire and Nate Kratch ... La Sierra's Wolfgang Wood was injured while trying to take a charge and stayed on the floor for several moments before heading to the team bench. He returned to the game a few minutes later ... La Sierra's Anthony Williams picked up a pair of personal fouls in the span of two seconds midway through the first half ...Brandon Clark made his first 3 free throws extending his streak of consecutive makes to 18 before missing the second of 2 at 12:50 of the second half ... John McArthur missed his third straight game due to injury.