Wcc

Santa Clara 70, San Francisco 57

Steve Nash’s 27 points led the Broncos past the Dons at San Francisco Thursday night in a battle for first place in the West Coast Conference.

The victory broke a three-way tie and put Santa Clara one-half game ahead of idle Gonzaga and one game in front of San Francisco.

Santa Clara broke the game open with 3:45 left in the first half when Nash hit three 3-pointers in the space of 55 seconds to put the Broncos ahead 37-20.

In the second half, Gerald Walker’s scoring and ballhandling twice helped USF cut the lead to eight points, but each time Nash answered with a basket or an assist. Nash was 10 for 13 from the floor, including five 3-pointers, and had a game-high five assists.

Walker led San Francisco with 17 points and Booker T. Washington added 10. Lloyd Pierce and Adam Anderson had 11 points each for Santa Clara.

Santa Clara (14-5) - Sedlock 1-3 0-0 2, Dunne 2-6 2-2 8, Graves 1-2 0-0 2, Nash 10-13 2-2 27, Pierce 4-9 2-3 11, Coleman 0-0 0-0 0, Hofmann 0-0 0-0 0, Zurek 2-4 3-4 7, Von Buchwaldt 0-0 2-2 2, Anderson 4-7 1-3 11. Totals 24-44 12-16 70.

San Francisco (11-8) - Campbell 3-7 2-2 8, Duggan 1-5 4-4 7, Washington 3-12 4-5 10, Brass 1-1 1-2 3, Walker 7-18 3-4 17, Rutherford 0-0 0-0 0, Galloway 2-2 0-0 4, Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Nodilo 0-1 1-2 1, Colter 1-3 0-0 3, Nees 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-53 15-19 57.

Halftime-Santa Clara 41, San Francisco 25. A-5,300.

Saint Mary’s 66, San Diego 62

David Sivulich scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half to lead the Gaels past the Toreros at San Diego.

Sivulich, made seven of his 13 shots from the floor, including 6 of 12 from 3-point range. His only points of the second half came on back-to-back 3-pointers that gave St. Mary’s the lead for good at 53-51 with 6-1/2 minutes remaining.

St. Mary’s, Calif. (10-9) - Unruh 2-6 2-2 6, Schraeder 3-7 4-4 11, Horton 3-4 8-10 14, Sivulich 7-13 1-2 21, Gilmore 1-4 4-4 6, Sufi 2-2 0-1 5, Dodic 0-0 1-2 1, Knapp 0-1 0-0 0, Steele 0-2 0-0 0, Knight 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 18-39 22-27 66.

San Diego (8-10) - Speech 2-5 3-4 7, Bruso 1-3 2-2 4, Miles 6-8 2-4 17, Jacobsen 0-4 0-0 0, Fizdale 4-9 0-3 11, Smith 4-7 0-0 10, Obasohan 4-6 3-4 11, Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Black 0-0 0-0 0, Mutrie 0-0 0-0 0, Raffo 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 22-46 10-18 62.

Halftime-St. Mary’s 34, San Diego 25.