Foul Shot Helps Dons Slip By Gu

The Gonzaga men’s basketball team is learning some painful lessons on the road.

For the second straight game, GU watched an early lead evaporate in the late stages as it fell 71-70 to San Francisco on a foul shot with 2 seconds left.

Hakeem Ward’s free throw capped a turnaround that saw GU (9-7, 2-2 West Coast Conference) leading 67-64 on Matt Santangelo’s 3-pointer with 46 seconds left.

“It’s very tough,” said Gonzaga coach Dan Fitzgerald. “We knocked down the 3 to get ahead, but we couldn’t keep it. We just didn’t play well enough to get over that hump.”

After the Dons scored six straight points to take a 70-67 lead, Lorenzo Rollins drained a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to pull Gonzaga into a 70-70 tie. San Francisco then decided to run the ball downcourt without calling time out.

The move flustered Gonzaga’s defense, and M.J. Nodilo quickly found an opening before missing on a drive. USF’s Mark Nees also missed a wide-open put-back, but Ward gave the Dons a third chance and was fouled while grabbing the rebound.

Ward hit the first free throw and missed the second, but all the Bulldogs could muster was a desperation heave by Santangelo from beyond halfcourt for their final shot.

Gonzaga duplicated its performance from Thursday’s 80-74 loss to San Diego, squandering a halftime lead. GU led 33-32 at the break.

San Francisco (8-8, 3-1) won for the fourth time in five games to take first place in the West Coast Conference.

Trailing 67-64 after Santangelo hit an off-balance 3-pointer with 54 seconds left, San Francisco cut the lead to 67-66 on a lay-in by Nodilo, who was fouled on the play.

Nodilo’s attempt at a game-tying free throw bounced off the rim, but Ward’s rebound and follow shot gave USF a 68-67 lead.

Gerald Zimmerman added two free throws with 20 seconds left to make it 70-67 before the dramatic final sequence. Zimmerman scored a game-high 21 points.

Bakari Hendrix and Santangelo led GU with 19 points apiece. Rollins was held to just nine.

San Francisco 71, Gonzaga 70

Gonzaga (9-7) - Leasure 3-3 0-0 6, Dench 3-4 1-1 7, Hendrix 7-12 5-5 19, Santangelo 7-16 0-0 19, Rollins 2-9 4-4 9, Frahm 2-5 0-0 6, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Nemeth 0-0 0-0 0, Eaton 1-5 2-3 4. Totals 25-55 12-13 70.

San Francisco (8-8) - Zimmerman 7-13 3-4 21, Duggan 0-3 4-4 4, Ward 6-10 4-8 16, Nodilo 5-16 3-5 15, Cobbs 2-3 0-0 4, Cantrell 4-5 1-1 9, Campbell 1-5 0-0 2, Nees 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 25-55 15-22 71.

Halftime-Gonzaga 33, San Francisco 32. 3-point goals- Gonzaga 8-19 (Santangelo 5-9, Frahm 2-4, Rollins 1-5, Williams 0-1), San Francisco 6-14 (Zimmerman 4-7, Nodilo 2-6, Duggan 0-1). Fouled out-Campbell, Leasure. Rebounds-Gonzaga 25 (Eaton 6), San Francisco 43 (Ward 14). Assists-Gonzaga 14 (Santangelo, Rollins, Frahm 3), San Francisco 14 (Nodilo 6). Total fouls-Gonzaga 20, San Francisco 16. A-4,480.

, DataTimes