Bulldogs Fight Off Toreros, Place Fourth In Wcc Race
Gonzaga Bulldogs, you’ve just escaped with a bloody and bruising victory over San Diego.
What do you get as a reward?
Another game with San Diego.
Gee, thanks.
With an impressive late rally Saturday, the Bulldogs collected a 71-63 win in their final regular-season game of the year. The victory allowed them to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference (7-7 in league and 18-8 overall).
San Diego (5-9, 10-15), meanwhile, places fifth, meaning the teams have an openinground engagement in the WCC men’s basketball tournament Saturday at Santa Clara.
Fresh in the minds of both teams will be the crucial final 7 minutes - a span in which GU broke away from a 57-57 tie.
A 3-pointer from John Rillie, strong inside play from Paul Rogers, and a pair of driving baskets by Kyle Dixon supplied the offensive punch. On the other end, the Bulldogs forced four USD turnovers in the final frantic minutes.
“We won a war,” GU coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “That was a 15-rounder; they were very, very tough and we didn’t collapse. I’m enormously proud of our kids.”
Played in front of 3,905 in a steamy Martin Centre, this one was close all the way, with defenses dominating an extremely physical matchup.
“They were real physical and it took us a while to get used to it,” said reserve post Scott Snider, who put in an outstanding 19 minutes of work, coming away with 15 points and nine rebounds. “We have a difficult time of it with them. They know our offense so well and that’s why they defend it so well. I think they’re my least favorite team to play.”
Neither team shot well, both hitting 41 percent, but Gonzaga outscored USD 24-8 from the free-throw line.
Fitzgerald saw several keys to the win - GU’s seventh in its last eight games.
“Snider’s play was tremendous for us,” Fitzgerald said. “And David Cole is playing much better basketball and that may be synonymous with us playing better basketball.”
Cole, a senior, got his first start of the season and answered with eight points and five boards.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game and that’s why the key was Snider with Paul (Rogers) and (Scott) Morgan stepping it up inside,” Cole said. “Basically, now we’ve got to bolt it down and stick it to ‘em again.”
Gonzaga was coming off a Thursday night win over San Francisco in which the Bulldogs sank a remarkable 22 3-pointers. They netted only five Saturday.
“That was our game plan coming in, to shut off the perimeter on them,” said USD forward Sean Flannery.”What it came down to is they got some bounces in the end and that made the difference.”
Asked his perspective of the final few hectic minutes of play, USD coach Brad Holland chose not to comment.
Not everyone was particularly thrilled about the prospects of a quick rematch. “No, this is not the team we’d really want to play, but it’s not something we’re going to worry about,” Fitzgerald said.
“I think I’m looking forward to playing them again on a neutral court,” USD guard David Fizdale said.
Gonzaga 71, San Diego 63
SAN DIEGO (10-15)
Fizdale 3-10 0-0 7, Harris 6-17 2-3 16, Black 1-3 0-0 2, Flannery 6-11 4-4 18, Williams 3-4 0-0 6, Hill 0-0 0-0 0. Obasohan 0-0 2-3 2, Raffo 0-0 0-0 0, Speech 3-7 0-2 6, Bruso 3-8 0-1 6. Totals 25-60 8-13 63.
GONZAGA (18-8)
Dixon 3-7 4-4 10, Rillie 5-18 1-1 13, Rubright 1-3 0-0 2, Cole 2-8 2-2 8, Kinloch 1-3 2-3 5, Morgan 1-2 2-2 4, Rogers 4-6 4-6 12, Bond 0-0 0-0 0, Snider 4-4 7-8 15, Williams 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 21-51 24-28 71.
Halftime-Gonzaga 30, San Diego 28. 3-Point goals-San Diego 5-19 (Fizdale 1-5, Harris 2-8, Flannery 2-5, Speech 0-1), Gonzaga 5-23 (Dixon 0-2, Rillie 2-11, Cole 2-7, Kinloch 1-2, Rogers 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-San Diego 38 (Bruso 9), Gonzaga 32 (Snider 9). Assists-San Diego 7 (Fizdale, Harris, Flannery 2), Gonzaga 9 (Dixon 4). Total fouls-San Diego 21, Gonzaga 15. A-3,905.
Portland 79, San Francisco 76
Kasey Flicker’s 3-pointer at the buzzer rallied the Pilots (10-4 WCC, 19-7 overall) past the Dons(4-10, 10-18) at Portland.
Flicker, who had 12 points, also connected on a 3-point field goal with 43 seconds remaining to tie the game at 76.
John Duggan scored 19 points and Tyrone Paul had 17 for the Dons.The Pilots overcame a 70-65 deficit with 7:45 left in the second half.Lemont Daniels’ one of two free throws cut the Dons’ lead to 76-73 with 1:28 left.Flicker’s tying 3-pointer was from the top of the arc. His winning shot came after the Dons turned over the ball with 6 seconds remaining.
SAN FRANCISCO (10-18)
Paul 6-11 4-5 17, Duggan 6-13 6-6 18, Wallace 4-5 5-6 13, Brovelli 3-4 2-2 9, Walker 2-12 0-0 5, Brass 0-0 3-4 3, Washington 2-6 2-4 7, Galloway 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 25-53 22-27 76.
PORTLAND (19-7)
Daniels 3-6 3-4 9, Chatman 7-20 1-1 15, Ranta 5-8 2-5 12, Holton 4-8 0-0 8, Ross 5-9 2-2 15, Fines 0-1 2-2 2, Anderson 1-3 0-0 3, Flicker 4-7 0-0 12, Metoyer 1-1 0-0 3, Harris 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 30-63 10-15 79.
Halftime-Portland 42, San Francisco 41. 3-Point goals-San Francisco 4-12 (Washington 1-1, Brovelli 1-1, Paul 1-3, Walker 1-6, Duggan 0-1), Portland 9-17 (Flicker 4-7, Ross 3-5, Metoyer 1-1, Anderson 1-3, Holton 0-1). Fouled out-Duggan. Rebounds-San Francisco 36 (Wallace 7), Portland 34 (Chatman 7). Assists-San Francisco 20 (Walker 8), Portland 23 (Holton 8). Total fouls-San Francisco 17, Portland 19. A-2,837. St. Mary’s 63, Loyola Marymount 53
A.J. Rollins scored 21 points off the bench as the visiting Gaels (10-4, 17-9) defeated the Lions (4-10, 12-14) and completed their first sweep of the Los Angeles schools since the 1964-65 season.
Loyola’s John Olive coached the entire game without incident after fainting on the bench during Friday night’s game.
Olive was briefly hospitalized for an inner ear infection, which threw off his equilibrium.St. Mary’s led 28-25 at halftime. With the game tied at 30, the Gaels scored five straight points to take the lead for good, 35-30, on two free throws by Kamran Sufi.
Robin Kirksey led Loyola with 13 points.Loyola (12-14, 4-10) finished the regular season in a three-way tie for sixth in the conference, going 0-7 on in games played on Saturdays.
ST. MARY’S, CAL. (17-9)
Farris 2-12 0-0 4, Johnson 3-6 2-2 10, Horton 4-7 2-2 10, Sufi 0-3 5-6 5, Gilmore 0-1 0-1 0, Joseph 1-1 0-0 0, Steele 0-2 0-0 0, Dodic 0-0 1-3 1, Peek 5-5 0-1 10, Rollins 6-11 9-10 21. Totals 21-48 19-25 63.
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT (12-14)
Kirksey 5-13 1-3 13, Jones 5-10 1-4 11, Oduok 2-5 0-0 4, Williamson 3-10 2-2 9, McElroy 1-5 0-0 3, O’Quinn 2-4 0-0 4, Henderson 0-0 0-0 0, Anthony 0-1 0-0 0, Ammerman 3-5 3-5 9, Hotopp 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 7-14 53.
Halftime-St. Mary’s, Cal. 28, Loyola Marymount 25. 3-Point goals-St. Mary’s, Cal. 2-7 (Johnson 2-3, Sufi 0-1, Farris 0-3), Loyola Marymount 4-16 (Kirksey 2-5, Williamson 1-4, McElroy 1-5, Ammerman 0-2). Fouled out- Oduok. Rebounds-St. Mary’s, Cal. 33 (Horton, Rollins 8 each), Loyola Marymount 36 (Oduok 8). Assists-St. Mary’s, Cal. 16 (Sufi 5), Loyola Marymount 9 (Williamson 6). Total fouls-St. Mary’s, Cal. 16, Loyola Marymount 24. A-2,332.
xxxx “WCC standings.”