The home-winning streak is a thing of the past

BRONCOS, 84-73

It’s over.

Gonzaga University’s longest-in-the-nation 50-game home winning streak ended Monday night, shot down by a Santa Clara University team that hardly missed a shot. The Broncos won 84-73, before another sellout crowd of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. You can read the game story here. Don’t forget to check Steve Bergum’s blog for more.

The streak, which stretched back a week short of four years, ended thanks to the Broncos’ shooting touch. Santa Clara hit five of its first six shots, built as much as a 19-point lead in the second half, converted 25 of 29 foul shots and held off a spirited Gonzaga rally.

After GU had pulled to within six points with 4 minutes, 32 seconds left, former Shadle Park High star Danny Pariseau (shown celebrating after his late 3-pointer; Spokesman-Review photo by Brian Plonka) scored five consecutive Santa Clara points and GU never got closer than seven again.

Gonzaga was also playing with the added burden of last weekend’s arrest and resulting suspension of starting center Josh Heytvelt and redshirt Theo Davis.

The Zags last lost at home in the old Kennel on Feb. 19, 2003, 72-68 to the University of Portland. They had never lost in McCarthey, in which they hosted their first regular-season game Nov. 19, 2004, 38 games ago.

The win moved Santa Clara a game ahead of Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference standings. The Broncos are 9-2 in conference play, 19-7 overall. The Zags dropped to 8-3 and 18-9.