SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball gave their bay area rival Saint Mary's all they could handle on Saturday evening, nearly completing a 14-point second half comeback. However, the Broncos came up just short, falling to the Gaels 67-64 to drop to 13-4 on the season and 1-1 in WCC play.
The Broncos held the lead for the majority of the first half and went into the locker room with a 29-28 advantage after Carlos Stewart swatted a buzzer-beating attempt at the end of the half. That close margin held for the first three minutes of the second half, but Saint Mary's grabbed control with a 7-0 run early in the period and held onto their lead for the remainder of the night. The Gaels led by as much as 14 at 55-41 with eight minutes to play.
Santa Clara slowly chipped into the deficit and cut it to four after Brandin Podziemski knocked down a pair of free throws with 3:26 remaining, but Saint Mary's (12-4, 2-0) scored the next five points to regain control. Undettered, the Broncos had one more comeback bid in them as Stewart knocked down a triple from the top of the key to make it a 3-point game with just 37 seconds on the clock. Santa Clara nearly got a defensive stop on the ensuing possession, but was called for a foul on an in-bounds play, sending the Gaels' Logan Johnson to the charity stripe where he iced the game by making both attempts. Podziemski scored on a layup inside the final second, but that was as close as SCU would get.
Podziemski, once again, was the team's leading scorer with 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Stewart finished with 13 points while Keshawn Justice also scored in double figures with 10 points, the majority of which coming at the charity stripe (7-for-7 FT). Jaden Bediako nearly had a double-double with a team-best 10 rebounds to go with nine points and two blocks.
Freshman Aiden Mahaney led Saint Mary's with 18 points while Kyle Bowen pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds before fouling out.
The Broncos were held to just 37 percent shooting in the loss (19-of-52), including a 5-for-15 mark from 3-point range. Saint Mary's shot 41 percent from the floor and was 7-for-22 from distance.
Santa Clara fared well at the free throw line, finishing with 20-plus made freebies for the third time this season (21-of-23). The Broncos also came out on top in the battle of the boards with a 38-35 advantage, however the Gaels came away with 15 offensive boards that helped seal the win.
After nine-straight home games, Santa Clara will finally hit the road for their next game, which comes on Thursday against Pepperdine in Malibu. The Broncos will then return to the Leavey Center to host Gonzaga on Saturday in a 7:00 p.m. PT tip.
POSTGAME INTERVIEW
Coach Sendek recaps tonight's narrow loss to the Gaels#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/AqJaC2pK9O
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) January 1, 2023
GAME NOTES
- With 10 points, Keshawn Justice moved into 20th place on the school's all-time career scoring list with 1,388 points.
- Bediako (2) and Parker Braun (3) both had mutliple blocks to improve to 21 and 19 on the year, respectively. Both rank inside the top five in the WCC.
