Late layup by Santa Clara drops Saint Mary’s

Jared Brownridge scored on a layup with 7 seconds left to give Santa Clara a 71-70 upset win over Saint Mary’s on Saturday night in Santa Clara, California.

Saint Mary’s clinched 2nd place in the West Coast Conference Thursday, but now has lost two of its last three games. The Gaels open in the quarterfinal round Saturday in Las Vegas.

Santa Clara opens the tournament Friday.

Jarvis Pugh dunked to tie the game at 67-67 with 2:45 left, but Aaron Bright drilled a 3-pointer to give Saint Mary’s a 70-67 lead. Brandon Clark drew a foul and converted two free throws with 1:01 left to cut the deficit to 70-69. Brad Waldow missed a layup with 32 seconds left and Desmond Simmons missed a tip-in before Brownridge hit the game-winner.

Brandon Clark scored 21 points and Brownridge and Denzel Johnson each added 17.

Kerry Carter scored 19 points to lead Saint Mary’s.

Pepperdine 65, Loyola Marymount 49: Stacy Davis scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and the Waves rolled to a victory over the Lions in Malibu, California.

Pepperdine faces San Diego next Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the West Coast Conference Tournament at Las Vegas. Loyola Marymount will go in as the No. 10 seed and play Friday night.

David Humphries had 11 points and 10 rebounds with three steals to lead Loyola Marymount, which shot just 18 of 61 (29.5 percent) from the floor, including 2 of 20 from long range.

San Diego 78, Portland 66: Christopher Anderson dished off nine assists and every Toreros player scored in a victory over the host Pilots.

San Diego faces Pepperdine and Portland will play Saint Mary’s next Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the West Coast Conference Tournament at Las Vegas.

Johnny Dee scored 12 points and Cameron Neubauer and Vasa Pusica chipped in 10 apiece for San Diego, which snapped its three-game losing skid.

Kevin Bailey scored 23 points and Alec Wintering had 21 with five assists to lead Portland, which has lost four straight.

San Francisco 65, Pacific 55: Kruize Pinkins scored 18 points and the host Dons made a second-half surge to take control and beat the Tigers.

San Francisco used a 12-0 run midway through the second half – including 3-pointers by Pinkins and Chris Adams – to turn a five-point deficit into a seven-point advantage and the Dons never trailed again.