AUDIO: Mitchell Halftime Interview

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball dominated inside and played stifling defense to defeat Nicholls, 73-57, on Saturday in the finale of the Bronco Invitational, winning all three games of the four-team, round-robin tournament.

Josip Vrankic paced the Broncos (3-0) with 28 points and a career-high tying 15 rebounds to record his 12th career double-double. Keshawn Justice added 14 points, including making all four of the team's 3-pointers in otherwise a cold shooting night for the team, which connected on just 41 percent from the floor.

Santa Clara made up for its off-shooting night by dominating inside against an opponent which only had one player taller than 6-foot-7 on the roster. Santa Clara outrebounded the Colonels, 55-38, and outscored them 44-18 in the paint while holding them to just 28 percent shooting from the field.

Jaylen Fornes tallied 14 points and Ryghe Lyons chipped in 13 for Nicholls (2-1), which was just 7-for-30 from behind the 3-point line.

The Broncos led wire-to-wire, scoring the first nine points of the game and opened the margin to as much as 17 in the opening 20 minutes. The Colonels made a 10-0 run late in the half to get within seven points but that is as close as they would get the remainder of the game.

Santa Clara held a double-digit margin throughout the second half, scoring the first seven points after intermission to build on a 34-26 lead. The advantage ballooned to 72-50 with less than 3 minutes remaining in the game.

Jaden Bediako tallied eight points and 10 rebounds, and Christian Carlyle had an all-around solid game by scoring eight and registering eight rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots for the Broncos set a school record with their 20th-straight nonconference win at home. Santa Clara has not lost in Leavey Center to a nonleague opponent since December, 2018.

UC Davis, which fell to the Broncos, 92-49, on Friday, knocked off Idaho State, 70-61, in the opening game on Saturday.

HIGHLIGHTS | Best of the Bronco best from Saturday's victory!#TeamFirst #StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/dY1Px2Wu0j

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) November 29, 2020

NOTES
• Santa Clara and Nicholls met for the first time.
• Santa Clara entered the game shooting 55.3 percent from the free-throw line this season, but was able to connect on 65.2 percent (15 of 23) in the game, including 12-for-17 (70.6 percent) in the second half.
• The Broncos have now won their last 20 nonconference home games, a new school record. The last loss occurred against Idaho State. The Bengals escaped Leavey Center with a 68-66 victory on Dec. 7, 2018. The old school record of 19 straight nonleague home wins began on Jan. 2, 1987 with an 87-80 win over Montana and ended on Dec. 15, 1990 with a 75-66 loss to San Jose State.
• Josip Vrankic had 11 points and nine rebounds in the opening 20 minutes and registered his 12th career double-double early in the second half. He ended up scoring 28 points and tallying a career-high tying 15 rebounds. He was 10-for-13 from the free-throw line, just one shy of his career-high for makes (11 vs. Pacific, Jan. 18, 2020).
• Vrankic moved from 28th to 26th on the Santa Clara all-time scoring list. He now has 1,187 points, passing KJ Feagin (2015-19) and Nathan Fast (1996-00) who each tallied 1,182. Next on the list is Ron Reis (1988-92) who scored 1,246.
• Jaden Bediako made his second straight start in place of Guglielmo Caruso (concussion protocol). Joe Foley and Vittorio Reynoso-Avila each made his first appearance for the Broncos. Foley, a sophomore, played the 2018-19 season at Lehigh and Reynoso-Avila is a graduate transfer from Princeton.
• Trent Hudgens Jr. (leg) and Miguel Tomley (leg) were not available for the Broncos.

��️ Hear from head coach @HerbSendek on today's victory over Nicholls State!

Postgame interview presented by @ROATweets.#TeamFirst #StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/mrKWcpu5Gi

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) November 29, 2020

��️ Next on the mic ... the newcomer making a big impact. Here's Christian Carlyle on Saturday's win!

Postgame interview presented by @ROATweets.#TeamFirst #StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/mZOHLf8r1Z

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) November 29, 2020

��️ "Rebounding is a sign of toughness" - @JadenSayNoMore chats about Saturday's win!

Postgame interview presented by @ROATweets.#TeamFirst #StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/PCTXrw9ppI

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) November 29, 2020

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