MORAGA, Calif. – Keshawn Justice saved his most important basket for last.

Justice tallied a season-high 23 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer, to help propel Santa Clara men's basketball to a thrilling 66-64 road victory over Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams.

A dunk by Mattias Tass of Saint Mary's with 22 seconds left snapped a 62-all tie, but Justice answered just four seconds later by connecting on a 3-pointer from the right wing off a feed from Christian Carlyle.

Justice followed by blocking a shot from Tommy Kuhse in the lane and nailed 1 of 2 free throws to close it out for the Broncos (7-2, 1-0).

Logan Johnson scored a game-high 26 for the Gaels (9-3, 0-1) who dropped back-to-back games at home to the Broncos for the first time since the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.

Santa Clara led 57-55 but Kuhse, who had 12 points, hit a turnaround one-hander and Johnson followed with a fastbreak dunk off a Santa Clara turnover with less than 3 minutes left in a game with 11 lead changes and 11 ties.

Josip Vrankic, who had 11 points, scored the next five from the free-throw line for the Broncos to set up the final sequence.

Guglielmo Caruso had 10 points for Santa Clara which shot 47 percent from the floor, including 6-for-12 from behind the 3-point line.

Justice, who was just 2-for-15 from the field in the previous two games, went 8-for-12, including 3 of 4 from beyond the 3-point line.

Johnson nailed 9 of 14 from the floor, but the remainder of the Gaels were only 14 of 45.

The Broncos built a 22-15 lead, the largest for either team in the game, in the first half but the Gaels tied it at 27-all on a free throw from Kuhse.

Santa Clara took a 31-30 lead into the locker room as Justice nailed a layup at the buzzer. He had 17 points in the opening half and Caruso chipped in eight.

Neither team led by more than five points in the second half.

�� IN THE ������������@tiggo3justice hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 17.4 seconds left and followed up with a block on the defensive end to seal Saturday's victory at Saint Mary's!#TeamFirst #StampedeAhead #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/hZL6exaWM6

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) January 10, 2021

BUZZER BEATER
Santa Clara entered halftime with a one-point lead on a tremendous inbounds play. After a review of a shot clock violation by the Gaels, Ezekiel Richards came off the bench with 2 seconds left to toss a baseball pass to the opposite foul line to Jaden Bediako. He tipped the ball to Justice who laid it in just before the buzzer.

What a way to end the half for @SantaClaraHoops! pic.twitter.com/XFTQohmsMY

— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) January 10, 2021

NOTES
• Santa Clara and Saint Mary's are longtime rivals and original West Coast Conference members. The series began in 1910 and the teams met for 229th time, the most common opponent in Santa Clara history. The Broncos now lead the series 137-92, but the Gaels have won 11 of the last 15. Santa Clara snapped an eight-game series losing streak with last year's 67-66 win in Moraga.  
• Santa Clara shot a season-best 77.8 percent (14 of 18) from the free-throw line and a season-high 50 percent (6-for-12) from behind the 3-point line. The team entered the game shooting 63.6 percent from the line (ninth in the WCC) and 25.6 percent on 3-pointers (10th in the WCC).
• The Broncos entered the game averaging 5.0 blocks, the 23rd-best mark in the nation, and posted six, including a pair by Jaden Bediako whose 2.0 per contest rank No. 28 nationally.
• The Broncos were outrebounded 35 to 30. It marked just the third game of the season the opposition won the rebounding battle (also CSU Bakersfield, Dec. 2 and USC, Dec. 29).
• With 11 points, Josip Vrankic moved from 25th to 23rd on the school's all-time scoring list (1,263), passing Frank Sobrero (1957-60/1,256) and Mitch Burley (1985-89/1,258).

��️ Hear from head coach @HerbSendek on tonight's victory at Saint Mary's!

Postgame interview presented by @ROATweets.#TeamFirst #StampedeAhead #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/mw2CQahOpj

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) January 10, 2021

��️ Here's @tiggo3justice on tonight's victory at Saint Mary's!

Postgame interview presented by @ROATweets.#TeamFirst #StampedeAhead #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/UYZsaRC3H1

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) January 10, 2021

NEXT UP
The Broncos will play at Pacific on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

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