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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

It’s Dons or Broncos

SAN DIEGO – Gonzaga will meet No. 4-seeded Santa Clara or No. 5 San Francisco in the West Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament semifinals.

The Dons (10-20) eliminated No. 8 Loyola Marymount 79-60 on Friday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. San Francisco will face Santa Clara (14-15), which had a bye into the quarterfinals, tonight at 6.

Top-seeded Gonzaga (24-6) awaits the San Francisco-Santa Clara winner at 6:30 Sunday night (ESPN2).

Gonzaga swept the Dons and Broncos during the regular season.

San Francisco’s Dior Lowhorn, the WCC’s leading scorer at 20.7 points per game, scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Guard Manny Quezada made three 3-pointers en route to 24 points. Quezada had half of USF’s 10 assists. Vince Polakovich chipped in 11 points for USF.

The Dons, who led by three at the half, were on top 56-53 with 8:48 remaining before putting together a decisive 18-3 spurt. Lowhorn, who started the run with back-to-back field goals, and Quezada combined for 14 of the points.

USF was 30 of 56 (53.6 percent) from the field and made 16 of 19 free throws. The Dons outrebounded LMU 39-34.

The Lions lost in the first round of the conference tournament for the eighth time in 11 seasons.

In the late game, No. 6 Pepperdine outlasted No. 7 Portland 50-48 in overtime.

Pepperdine (11-20) built a 10-0 lead, holding the Pilots scoreless until the 14-minute mark. Tyrone Shelley had 11 points and Ryan Holmes hit a runner just before the shot clock expired as the Waves took a 27-15 lead at halftime.

Portland trailed 44-33 with 6:28 left, but Nik Raivio, younger brother of ex-Zag Derek Raivio, hit two 3-pointers, the last knotting the score at 46 to force overtime.

Raivio gave the Pilots their first lead of the game (48-46) with a 13-foot jumper, but Shelley scored the last four points.

Shelley finished with 21 points.

Senior Sherrard Watson led the Pilots with 17 points and Raivio added 12.

No. 3 San Diego (18-13) faces Pepperdine at approximately 8:15 tonight, with the winner advancing to a semifinal matchup with No. 2 Saint Mary’s (25-5).