Bulldogs On Target, Win 81-71

Transfer Lorenzo Rollins and 7-foot forward Paul Rogers brought Gonzaga’s shooting slump to an end Saturday night, sparking a school-record demonstration of accuracy as the Bulldogs beat Saint Mary’s 81-71 in a West Coast Conference men’s basketball game at Moraga, Calif.

Rollins, a junior out of Tacoma Community College, brought some life to Gonzaga’s troublesome offguard spot by coming off the bench to score 23 points. Rogers scored 22 points and led both teams with 11 rebounds.

Rollins connected on 9 of his 11 tries from the field, including 3 of 5 3-pointers. Rogers dropped in 8 of 9 shots as the Bulldogs hit on 28 of 39 for 71.8 percent.

The triumph boosted Gonzaga’s season record to 10-4 with a 1-1 conference mark. St. Mary’s, which lost twice at home, fell to 6-7.

Gonzaga’s performance came in sharp contrast to Friday’s loss at Santa Clara, where coach Dan Fitzgerald was disgusted by his backcourt’s 4-for-19 shooting effort.

“We went to the eye clinic,” Fitzgerald quipped. “We shot the ball very, very well. We got good shots, we were much more patient and we really executed our offense.”

The defense was equally effective, holding the WCC’s leading scorer and 3-point shooter, David Sivulich, to five points. Rebound leader Jumoke Horton took only two rebounds and was held to 10 points.

After splitting on the road, the Bulldogs open their home WCC season Thursday against San Diego.

“If you’re happy with splits, you finish fourth,” Fitzgerald added, “but they look pretty good after Friday.”

Gonzaga established its previous record for shooting accuracy on Dec. 21, 1988, sinking 38 of 54 shots (70.4 percent) against Warner Pacific.

After falling behind by five points early, the Bulldogs took the lead for good, 13-12, at the 14:34 mark of the first half and went on a 20-9 run.

The Gaels cut the lead to 34-31 on 3-pointers by Frank Knight and Josh Unruh, but Gonzaga held St. Mary’s without a basket for the last 3:05 of the half to push their margin to nine.

Although Fitzgerald conceded that Rollins may have earned a starting berth, he remains concerned about his team’s back-court play.

“We committed 25 turnovers, nine times at the point,” he said. “We’ve just got to cut that down.”

Gonzaga (10-4) - Kinloch 3-6 4-6 12, Rogers 8-9 6-8 22, Snider 1-1 4-4 6, Dixon 3-7 0-3 7, Williams 0-1 3-4 3, L. Rollins 9-11 2-2 23, Morgan 3-3 0-0 6, Leasure 0-0 0-0 0, Nemeth 0-0 0-0 0, Bond 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-39 19-27 81. St. Mary’s (6-7) - Schraeder 8-12 0-0 18, Dodic 2-5 0-0 4, Horton 5-6 0-0 10, Unruh 2-8 8-8 13, Sivulich 1-6 3-6 5, Sufi 0-2 0-0 0, Gilmore 2-3 1-1 6, Steele 1-2 0-0 2, Knight 4-7 0-4 12, Millard 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 25-54 13-21 71.

Halftime-Gonzaga 41, St. Mary’s 32. 3-Point goals-Gonzaga 6-11 (Rollins 3-5, Kinloch 2-4, Dixon 1-2), St. Mary’s 8-24 (Knight 4-6, Schraeder 2-6, Gilmore 1-1, Unruh 1-6, Sivulich 0-5). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Gonzaga 30 (Rogers 11), St. Mary’s 17 (Dodic 3). Assists-Gonzaga 17 (Dixon 5), St. Mary’s 21 (Unruh 6). Total fouls-Gonzaga 18, St. Mary’s 20. A-2,537.

Santa Clara 86, Portland 66

At Santa Clara, Calif., Marlon Garnett scored 16 points and the Broncos (11-3, 2-0) made their first eight 3-point shots on the way to an easy victory over the Pilots (10-4, 1-1).

Portland (10-4) - Anderson 4-8 0-0 11, Daniels 7-18 5-6 19, Klosterman 1-3 2-2 4, Holton 2-4 0-0 4, King 5-11 2-4 14, Rainwater 0-0 0-0 0, Flicker 0-3 2-2 2, Stonehouse 3-6 0-0 6, Brainard 3-8 0-0 6, Collins 0-0 0-0 0, Metoyer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 11-14 66.

Santa Clara (11-3) - Anderson 1-4 1-2 3, Sedlock 3-6 2-2 8, Graves 3-7 1-4 7, Nash 6-11 0-0 14, Garnett 5-9 4-4 16, Pierce 6-9 0-0 13, Zurek 4-10 0-0 11, Dunne 6-6 0-1 13, Hofmann 0-0 1-4 1, Coleman 0-0 0-0 0, Willett 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-62 9-17 86.

Halftime-Santa Clara 49, Portland 33. A-4,109.

San Francisco 56, Pepperdine 54

At San Francisco, John Duggan’s 16 points rallied the Dons (9-6, 2-1) over the Waves (7-7, 0-2).

Pepperdine (7-7) - Hervey 3-6 0-0 6, M. Johnson 5-13 0-0 13, Hill 3-7 0-0 6, Brown 5-10 1-2 12, Van Der Putten 3-3 4-4 10, Archie 1-2 0-0 3, Bragg 1-1 0-0 2, Griffin 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-43 5-6 54.

San Francisco (9-6) - Campbell 3-9 2-4 8, Duggan 5-11 2-2 16, Washington 4-7 7-11 15, Brass 0-1 0-0 0, Walker 2-7 0-0 4, Galloway 1-1 1-2 3, J. Johnson 0-1 1-2 1, Nodilo 1-2 1-2 4, Colter 2-3 0-0 5, Nees 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-42 14-23 56.

Halftime-Pepperdine 39, San Francisco 22. A-3,722.

Loyola Marymount 63, San Diego 56

At San Diego, Jim Williamson, normally a starter, came off the bench to score 21 points, including a big basket late in the game, to lead the Lions (10-4, 1-1) past the Toreros (7-6, 2-1).

Loyola Marymount (10-4) - Ammerman 1-4 3-4 6, Oduok 3-6 4-4 10, Hotopp 3-5 0-1 6, O’Quinn 6-10 0-1 14, Woolery 2-5 2-4 6, Williamson 6-15 6-6 21, Kennedy 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Perry 0-0 0-0 0, Hammond 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-46 15-20 63.

San Diego (7-6) - Courtney 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 3-9 2-6 8, Raffo 1-2 0-0 2, Jacobsen 7-11 0-0 16, Fizdale 3-9 2-2 8, Speech 4-5 1-2 10, Smith 1-2 1-4 3, Obasohan 1-7 1-2 3, Miles 2-5 2-2 6, Black 0-3 0-0 0, Mutrie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 9-18 56.

Halftime-Loyola Marymount 30, San Diego 23. A-2,310.

, DataTimes