Dec. 30, 2009
Led by a career-high 24 points for Ray Cowels off the bench and a season-high 16 points for Ben Dowdell, the Broncos were defeated by Wofford College 80-72 in the consolation game of the 43rd Annual Cable Car Classic on Wednesday night. The Terriers had four players in double figures and hit nine threes on the night. Santa Clara moves to 7-8 and Wofford is now 8-7. Santa Clara hosts New Hampshire on Sat., Jan. 2 at 1 pm.
Cowels 24 points were the most for a Bronco off the bench since Brandon Rohe had 29 on Dec. 27, 2002 in Santa Clara's 70-63 win over Mississippi Valley State. And the most for a freshman since Kevin Foster scored 26 at LMU on Feb. 14, 2009 in Santa Clara's 69-64 win over the Lions.
Santa Clara shot 42.6 percent from the field, including 53.8 percent from beyond the arc. Santa Clara collected 36 rebounds, seven steals and six blocks with 14 turnovers. Wofford shot 53.2 percent from the field, including 50 percent from beyond the arc. Wofford collected 26 rebounds, seven steals and five blocks with 13 turnovers.
Along with Cowels and Dowdell, Marc Trasolini finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Robert Smith finished with 11 points and six assists. Noah Dahlman led the Terriers with 14 points and four rebounds. Jamar Diggs also finished with 14 points. Junior Salters and Cameron Rundles each finished with 13 points.
The three point field goals came early and often for Wofford and Santa Clara to start the game. Diggs opened the game for the Terriers with a three at 19:48 but the Broncos responded as Michael Santos nailed a three at 18:36 and Cowels knocked down a three at 15:03.
Wofford's shots continued to fall as Salters hit three threes in the first seven minutes of the game and Wofford was 5-6 from beyond the arc at 13:17, but the Terriers only had a 19-16 lead.
Wofford extended its lead to eight points, 26-18, on another three by Diggs at 9:58 but Trasolini responded with a layup to bring the Broncos within six. The Terriers then went on a 7-2 run capped off by a three by Rundles at 5:10 to extend their lead to 35-22. The Terriers were 8-11 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Smith nailed a three for Santa Clara at 4:45 but Rundles hit another three on the next possession to put Wofford back in front by 13 points. Cowels hit a three to put the Broncos within 10 at 3:41 but three straight baskets by Wofford put the Terriers up by 16.
Cowels converted a three-point play with 50.6 seconds left in the half to cut the Wofford lead to 13. The score at the half was 44-31.
Niyi Harrison opened up the second half for the Broncos with a layup at 19:11. Dahlman scored four straight points for Wofford to extend its lead to 48-34 at 16:41. Brad Loesing converted a three-point play for Wofford to push their lead to 51-34 with 15:56.
Santa Clara rallied with an 8-2 run to cut Wofford's lead to 53-42 after two free throws by Cowels at 12:19. Two free throws by Corey Godzinski at 11:37 ended the run for Santa Clara but Cowels nailed another three at 11:27 and hit a jump shot at 10:13 to cut Wofford's lead to 56-47.
Salters knocked down his fourth three of the night for the Terriers at 7:58 to extend the lead for Wofford to 63-51 but two free throws by Dowdell and Trasolini cut the score to 63-55 at 6:48.
Dowdell scored on consecutive possessions for Santa Clara to cut Wofford's lead to 64-59 at 4:36.
Cowels hit yet another three for the Broncos to cut Wofford's lead to 69-63 at 2:24. Brad Loesing made a basket in response at 1:59 but Cowels hit a three yet again for the Broncos to cut the score to 71-66.
Loesing hit two free throws at 1:04 to put the Terriers up 74-66, but Smith made layups on consecutive possessions to cut the score to 74-70.
Two free throws by Godzinski with 26.8 seconds left put the Terriers up 80-72 as the final score.
