Dec. 21, 2009
GALLERY
Bronco sophomore Marc Trasolini nailed two free throws with 12 ticks left and the Santa Clara defense stopped a last-second attempt to capture victory over Pacific at the Leavey Center. The Broncos avenged their 84-57 loss from Nov. 22 in Stockton.
Santa Clara hosts San Jose State on Wed., Dec. 23 at 7 pm. Santa Clara moved to 7-5 and Pacific is now 7-4 overall.
"I am really proud of our effort tonight. We worked hard not to turn the ball over and did a better job of handling it. It's great to have the team out of school and rested. The guys are coaching themselves out on the floor right now. It's great to see them continue to grow," said Bronco head coach Kerry Keating. "I would like to see Marc Trasolini shoot 10 three pointers a night. He is that good of a shooter. He just needs to work on his confidence and continue to shoot."
SCU shot 38.6 percent, including 40 percent beyond the arc. SCU had 30 rebounds, three blocks and four steals with 12 turnovers. Pacific shot 44.9 percent, including 30 percent beyond the arc. Pacific had 31 rebounds, four blocks and seven steals with 14 turnovers.
Trasolini led the Broncos with 17 points and five rebounds. Ben Dowdell finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Niyi Harrison also added seven points for the Broncos. Allen Huddleston led the Tigers with 14 points and Joe Ford finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Sam Williard led Pacific with 15 rebounds.
Pacific started the game on a 7-2 run after a jump shot by Sam Willard with 16:08. Terrell Smith also knocked down a three for Pacific during the run. Santa Clara responded to the early charge with a 13-7 run capped off by a layup by Smith at 9:18. Trasolini nailed two threes and Dowdell added five points of his own, and the Broncos took the lead for the first time in the game 14-13.
Trasolini nailed his third three of the half to push the score to put the Broncos up 20-17 with 5:00 remaining.
Huddleston hit a three for Pacific to push the score to 27-24 with 1:09 left, but Harrison responded with a layup with 45 seconds remaining and cut the Tiger's lead to one. The score at the half was 27-26.
In the first meeting between Santa Clara and Pacific the Tigers led 33-23 at the half. The Broncos finished the half with only six turnovers.
Trasolini converted a three point play at 18:05 to put the Broncos for the first time in the half 32-29.
Ford scored four straight points for the Tigers to push Pacific back in the lead at 16:15.
Trasolini put the Broncos back on top 34-33 with 15:19, but Pacific responded with three threes during the span of 13:58-10:15, the second and third coming from Huddleston, to put the Tigers up 42-38.
Dowdell then scored the next four points for the Broncos to tie the score at 42 with 8:27.
Michael Santos nailed a three to put the Broncos up 47-46 with 6:30 in the game. Willard's lay-up with 4:25 put the Tigers up 50-48.
Ray Cowels hit two free-throws to cut the Tigers lead to 52-50 with 1:21. Ford hit a free-throw with 44 seconds remaining to push the Tigers lead to 53-50. Smith responded with a layup with 32.7 seconds remaining. Before the layup from Smith the Bronco's last field goal came on Michael Santos' three with 5:27 remaining.
After a traveling violation by Pacific, Santa Clara controlled the ball with 30.9 seconds remaining. Trasolini drove to the basket and was fouled by Lavar Neufville. Trasolini hit two free throws with 11.9 seconds remaining to put the Broncos up 54-53.
Pacific's last second attempt was wide and the final score was Santa Clara 54 Pacific 53.
