Gonzaga Edges Dons By A Step

Whenever Gonzaga has played San Francisco in recent seasons, it’s always been expected that a Walker would have an impact in the outcome.

Usually, it’s been all-conference guard Gerald Walker.

Saturday, though, in front of 3,967 fans sardined into the Martin Centre, the most important walker was Booker T. Washington.

It was a walking violation by Washington with :22 left in the game that deprived the visiting Dons of the potential tying or go-ahead possession, helping Gonzaga to nose out a 60-55 victory.

The West Coast Conference win - in an extremely dramatic homecoming contest - left the Bulldogs (12-4 overall) tied atop the WCC standings with Santa Clara with 3-1 league records.

It was a game in which deliberate tempo and savage defensive play made every possession seem crucial.

Because it was.

The game was tied seven times and neither team could built more than a six-point cushion.

“That was a war,” GU coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “The will to win on our team is very, very high. We may not be that talented, but we’re extremely tough-minded.

“As far as I’m concerned, winning isn’t always the (most important) deal,” he said. “Effort is the deal, and we’ve certainly had that.”

Particularly down the stretch.

In the second half, neither Paul Rogers nor Kyle Dixon missed a shot. Rogers, a 7-foot post man, made all five of his attempts to finish with his fourth straight double-double - 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Dixon made nine of his 15 points in the second half and finished the game with a career-high 11 assists (against only two turnovers).

A creative lane drive by Dixon, followed by a clutch 3-pointer from 23 feet with :01 on the shot clock, gave GU its biggest lead of the game, 54-48, inside of 5 minutes to play.

But the Bulldogs scored only one free throw from that point up until the time USF’s Zerrick Campbell stole a pass and dunked to tie it 55-55 with a minute left.

On GU’s next possession, Rogers somehow fought through a knot of players under the basket to tip in a Jon Kinloch miss.

“That was a great play by him,” Fitzgerald said. “In some ways, that’s not his character, but that was a tough, tough play.”

After a foul on Dixon, USF worked an in-bounds pass from Walker to Washington with :24 on the clock. As Washington (19 points) started his drive to the basket for what could have tied the game, he was whistled for traveling.

Kinloch then made three free throws in the final 20 seconds.

“What it came down to was who was going to come up with the big plays at the end,” USF coach Phil Mathews said after his team slipped to 10-7 and 3-2. “And they came up with the big plays.”

Mathews threw mostly zone defenses at the Bulldogs, primarily to try to throttle Rogers.

“The zones make it tougher because you don’t get as many good looks at the basket, but you just have to keep flashing and working hard to get open,” Rogers said. “This was another game when our offense sputtered, so we had to look to other things to give us a lift and tonight, it was defense and rebounding.”

The Bulldogs outrebounded USF by a 16-7 count in the second half.

Dixon was pleased with the outcome since “this is the first one of these close games we’ve had that we’ve won.”

True. The Bulldogs lost in overtime to Washington State, by two points to Montana State and by four to Washington.

Gonzaga 60, San Francisco 55

San Francisco (10-7) - Brass 3-3 0-2 7, Walker 3-11 0-0 8, Washington 7-11 5-5 19, Campbell 3-6 0-0 6, Duggan 4-8 1-2 11, Nodilo 0-4 0-0 0, Colter 0-2 0-2 0, Galloway 1-1 0-0 2, Johnson 0-1 2-2 2, Nees 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-47 8-13 55.

Gonzaga (12-4) - Dixon 5-8 4-6 15, Rollins 2-7 0-0 6, Snider 2-6 0-2 4, Rogers 9-10 3-7 21, Kinloch 3-8 3-4 12, Williams 0-4 0-0 0, Leasure 1-3 0-0 2, Bond 0-0 0-0 0, Nemeth 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-46 10-19 60.

Halftime-San Francisco 30, Gonzaga 29. 3-Point goals-San Francisco 5-14 (Brass 1-1, Walker 2-4, Duggan 2-5), Gonzaga 6-19 (Dixon 1-2, Rollins 2-6, Kinloch 3-7). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-San Francisco 24 (Washington, Duggan, Johnson, 4 each), Gonzaga 31 (Rogers 10). Assists-San Francisco 9 (Brass, Walker, 3 each), Gonzaga 16 (Dixon 11). Total fouls-San Francisco 18, Gonzaga 12. A-3,967.

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