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November 25, 2009 in Sports
GU battles past Cincinnati
Zags win Maui Invitational title
LAHAINA, Hawaii — Robert Sacre scored 14 points and Gonzaga won the Maui Invitational for the first time in three tries, beating Cincinnati 61-59 in overtime Wednesday night at the Lahaina Civic Center.
Steven Gray and Elias Harris added 13 points apiece for Gonzaga (5-1).
The Bulldogs, who also got 12 points from Demetri Goodson, overcame a 10-point second-half deficit and sent the game to overtime after Sacre hit a floater in the lane with 16 seconds to play in regulation. Sacre then blocked Cincinnati’s alley-oop attempt at the buzzer.
The Bearcats (4-1) looked weary in overtime, missing five of seven free throws in the first 1:45 while falling behind by two.
Yancy Gates, who scored 11 points, had a putback dunk with 12.6 seconds remaining to bring the Bearcats within one, but Cashmere Wright missed a floater as time expired.
Lance Stephenson led Cincinnati with 15 points.
It was Gonzaga’s third appearance in the Maui Invitational. The Bulldogs reached the championship game once before, losing to Connecticut 65-63 in 2005.
More on Gonzaga’s victory story at Sportlink.
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Halcomb collects WCC honor 
rterrylynch on November 26 at 10:30 p.m.
Congratulations to a very hard working team. The Zags won in spite of very poor officiating in the first half and an aggressive Cincinnati opponet. If there is a silver lining beyond winning the tournement it is that the young team from Gonzaga will be primed for all their conference can through at them.
The amazing truth continues with the “eastern” announcers in denial of the quality of players put forth every year by G.U.. They seem totally surprised at the Zags. The obvious preference for the Cincinnati team and all their rough house qualities was more than annoying. Go Zags, you made the color guys eat their early commentary.