WCC roundup: Saint Mary’s grabs title with win at USF

Calvin Hermanson scored a career-high 24 points and made six 3-pointers and Saint Mary’s beat host San Francisco 84-72 for the Gaels’ third West Coast Conference regular-season title in the past six seasons.

Saint Mary’s, which shares the regular-season title with Gonzaga, secured the No. 1 seed in the WCC tournament after the Gaels beat the Bulldogs twice this season. Gonzaga beat BYU 71-68 earlier in the day to secure a share of its fourth consecutive WCC regular-season title.

Dane Pineau and Emmett Naar added 19 points apiece for Saint Mary’s (24-4, 15-3).

Evan Fitzner hit the Gaels’ sixth 3-pointer of the first half for a 35-26 lead. Hermanson added another 3 and made a layup as Saint Mary’s led 40-31 at halftime.

Saint Mary’s was up by 10 midway through the second half before a 9-0 run pushed its lead to 69-50 with 7:50 left.

Tim Derksen tied a career-high with 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for San Francisco (15-14, 8-10).

Loyola Marymount 90, Peppderdine 83 (2OT): Shamar Johnson’s 18 points and Munis Tutu’s 3-pointer at the end of the first overtime period helped the Lions upend the Waves in Los Angeles.

In the first overtime period, Pepperdine took an early lead and held it until Tutu hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds to go to tie the game at 78-all as the period expired. Tutu scored on a layup to open the second overtime and Marin Mornar sank six free throws to help the Lions (13-16, 6-12) to the win.

Mornar finished with 17 points.

Pepperdine trailed through much of the second half. Jeremy Major sank a layup to put the Waves (17-12, 10-8) on top 60-58 with 2:59 to play. Mornar hit a 3-pointer to tie it, 66-66, with 19 seconds left, forcing the first overtime.

Jett Raines had 21 points for Pepperdine, fourth-seed to the WCC tournament.

Santa Clara 69, Pacific 65: Jared Brownridge scored 29 points as the host Broncos beat the Tigers.

Brownridge was 7 of 24 from the field and made all 11 of his free throws for Santa Clara (11-19, 7-11). KJ Feagin added 17 points and Nate Kratch had 11 points and nine rebounds.

Pacific jumped to a 15-8 lead early and held on for a 30-25 edge at the break.

Brownridge sank a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half to put Santa Clara on top 43-41 with 13:14 to play. Pacific tied it 51-51 on a Tonko Vuko 3-point play with 7:35 remaining but Brownridge sank a pair of free throws and a jumper to put the Broncos back up 55-51 with 6:48 left and they held on for the win.

Eric Thompson had 14 points and a career-high 17 rebounds for the Tigers (8-20, 6-12).

San Diego 85, Portland 76: Duda Sanadze had a career-high 38 points as the Toreros held off a late Portland rally to beat the visiting Pilots.

Sanadze made 11 of 20 field goals, nailing six 3-pointers, and was 10 of 12 from the line to break the San Diego Div. I single-game scoring record. Vasa Pusica had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Brett Bailey added 12 points for San Diego (9-20, 4-14).

San Diego was up 60-47 after Sanadze hit a jumper midway in the second half. Portland’s Bryce Pressley nailed a trey to start a 10-0 run and close to 60-57 with 7:17 left. Sanadze answered with a 3-pointer to start a 13-2 run for a 73-59 lead with 2:54 left.

Pressley was 12 of 19 from the floor and 9 of 11 from the line for a career-high 37 points for Portland (12-19, 6-12).