Ford posted 33 points on 12 of 19 shooting from the floor, Malik Fitts scored 15 and Dan Fotu came off the bench to tally 13 points for the Gaels (24-6, 11-4) who won their fourth-straight outing and held on to third place in the conference standings.
Tahj Eaddy posted a season-high 20 points and Giordan Williams came off the bench to score 11 for the Broncos (18-12, 5-10) who played without starters Josip Vrankic and Trey Wertz in dropping their sixth-consecutive contest.
Eaddy's driving basket tied the score at 62-all with 5 minutes left, but Ford and Fitts nailed back to back 3-pointers.
Guglielmo Caruso, who played all but 13 minutes in the previous 14 games due to injury, scored five straight to cut the deficit to 68-67. Ford proved too tough as he had a hand in the eight of the final 10 points. The Broncos went 2-for-7 from the floor in the final 3 minutes.
"We would have loved to have been able to get the win so their efforts could be rewarded but you have to give credit to Saint Mary's," Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek said.
Tanner Krebs pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for the Gaels who shot 52 percent from the field. But Saint Mary's, which entered the game second in the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage (40.8), went just 6-for-20 from behind the arc.
Keshawn Justice added 11 points for the Broncos and missed his first-career double-double by one rebound
Neither team had a double-digit advantage in a game with six ties and five lead changes. Saint Mary's opened its biggest lead, 56-47, at the 10-minute mark in the second half.
Santa Clara chipped away at the lead on two 3-pointers by Williams to ignite a 13-2 run to give the Broncos a 60-58 lead.
The game got knotted up twice more before Ford helped the Gaels pull away at the end.
"I was really proud of the effort our guys gave tonight," Sendek said. "I thought we had two really good days of practice leading into the game and I thought the guys really gave a terrific effort."
In the opening half, the Broncos jumped to a 7-0 lead and maintained the edge through the first 10 minutes. But Saint Mary's went on an 11-0 run to take a 21-18 lead and headed to the half with a 35-31 lead.
The Broncos trailed by just four points despite shooting 38 percent from the field compared to 52 percent for the Gaels.
Seeing his first significant action since December, Caruso recorded eight points in 11 minutes.
The teams combined to post just 13 turnovers in the game. Santa Clara's six turnovers were its second-fewest of the season (five vs. Notre Dame de Namur, Nov. 19).
HIGHLIGHTS | Mega dunks from Jalen and Giordan tonight vs. Saint Mary's!#TeamFirst #StampedeAhead #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/X7e5hlaZld
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) February 28, 2020
NOTES
• The Broncos lead the series 136-92, in a series began in 1910 between original West Coast Conference members. The teams played for the 228th time, the most common opponent in Santa Clara history. The Gaels have won 11 of the last 14. Santa Clara snapped an eight-game losing streak with last month's 67-66 win in Moraga. Saint Mary's has won 10 of the last 11 in Leavey Center. The Broncos last swept the season series with the Gaels in 2006-07.
• Saint Mary's connected on 51.7 percent from the floor, which was the third-highest mark by an opponent this season. Nevada connected at 53.1 percent clip on Dec. 4, and San Francisco shot 52.7 percent on Jan. 9.
• The Gaels had only seven turnovers, tied with BYU (Feb. 20) for the fewest by a foe this year.
• Josip Vrankic (ankle) and Trey Wertz (concussion protocol) did not play. Wertz missed his first game as a Bronco after playing in all 60 the last two seasons. Vrankic missed just the second game of his career. Both players were injured in Saturday's Pacific contest. Jalen Williams and Keshawn Justice, who have each started the last 20 games, now lead the team in that category.
• Guglielmo Caruso (right lower leg) played for just the third time in the last 15 games. He played five minutes in the loss to San Francisco (Feb. 13) and was on the floor for eight minutes against the Tigers before fouling out.
• Giordan Williams entered the game having posted 54 points on the season in 21 games and scored 11 in 17 minutes. He had a career-high 16 points in the season-opening win over UC Santa Cruz (Nov. 5).
• Jordan Ford's 33 points were the most by an opposing player this season. Filip Petrusev of Gonzaga scored 31 on Jan. 30. Ford had 30 points in Santa Clara's win in January.
In the postgame interview presented by @ROATweets, head coach @HerbSendek discusses the hard-fought @WCCHoops loss to @saintmaryshoops without two starters.#TeamFirst | #StampedeAhead | #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/EzOAtGEJY5
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) February 28, 2020
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