Feb. 25, 2008
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - Freshman Ben Dowdell scored a team-high 21 points to lead Santa Clara to an 87-55 rout of San Francisco on Monday night.
On Senior Night, seniors Okey Mbanugo and Josh Higgins got their first starts of the season with Higgins scoring a season high nine points. He hit his first career 3-pointer in the game to help SCU get off to a strong start. Mbanugo and Higgins, along with fellow seniors Brody Angley and Mitch Henke were honored prior to the game.
John Bryant added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Santa Clara (14-13, 6-6 West Coast Conference) to earn his 14th double double of the season.
Dior Lowhorn had 22 points to lead the Dons (7-20, 3-9 WCC), who also got 11 points from Manny Quezada and 10 from Myron Strong.
With San Francisco trailing 48-20 at halftime, Danny Cavic scored a fast-break layup with 7:45 left in the second half to cut Santa Clara's lead to 21 points, but that was as close as the Dons got.
Dowdell, a native of North Nowra, Australia, was 6-8 from the field in the first half as Santa Clara roared out to an early lead.
The Broncos started four seniors who were playing in their final home game and got immediate production from the group. Josh Higgins scored five points in the opening minutes before being replaced by Bryant, who took advantage of the smaller Dons, scoring eight quick points in the paint.
The Broncos were 20-29 from the field in the first half, including six of 11 on 3-point attempts.
The Dons, meanwhile, struggled to hold onto the ball. They committed 12 turnovers in the first half and connected on only eight of 24 shots in the period.
The Broncos head to the Pacific Northwest this weekend to face Portland and Gonzaga. SCU faces the Portland Pilots on Saturday, Mar. 1 at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet. The Broncos then head to Spokane to play Gonzaga on Monday, Mar. 3 in the regular season finale live on ESPN2 at 8:30 p.m. Last season, Santa Clara became the first team to defeat Gonzaga at McCarthey Athletic Center.
