MORAGA, Calif. – Sophomore guard Carlos Stewart led the way with 17 points in a night where not a whole lot went the Broncos' way. Looking for a signature win against their Bay Area rivals, Santa Clara men's basketball was humbled by No. 24 Saint Mary's in a 77-58 final in Moraga to drop to 4-3 in WCC play and 16-6 overall.
Stewart finished the night 7-of-14 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from downtown, and Keshawn Justice chipped in 12 points as they only two Broncos to finish in double figures. As they've done all season, Saint Mary's locked down on defense as they held the usually potent Bronco offense to their lowest scoring outing in league play.
Santa Clara held the lead for the first three minutes of action before a 9-0 Gael run gave the home squad the advantage that would hold true for the remainder of the half. Saint Mary's (18-4, 7-0) pushed their advantage to nine with just under eight minutes to play in the period, but underclassmen Camaron Tongue and Brenton Knapper combined for a quick 7-0 run to cut the deficit to one at 23-22.
The Gaels had an answer as freshman sensation Aiden Mahaney, who led all scorers with 15 points in the half, drained back-to-back triples to swing the momentum right back. The Broncos went into the locker room down – their first deficit at the half since the Boise State game – at 36-29.
The second half was all Gaels as the home squad fed off their homecourt advantage to lead by as much as 28 down the stretch.
Santa Clara finished the game 22-for-47 from the floor and was outrebounded for just the fifth time this season (31-24). The Broncos committed 14 turnovers resulting in 24 points.
Despite the loss, the Broncos did have some bright spots in the form of Tongue and freshman center Christoph Tilly. Tongue was 3-for-3 from the floor for six points in 14 minutes while Tilly notched a career-high of seven points (5-6 FT) in 10 minutes.
Mahaney finished with 20 points to lead all scorers. The Gaels shot 52.6 percent (30-57) and was 9-of-20 from 3-point range.
The Broncos return to action next Saturday at home against Pacific
GAME NOTES
- Parker Braun finished with three blocks for his third game with at least three blocks on the year.
- Freshman walk-on Malachi Douyon made his SCU debut.
