Gonzaga Looking For Help Bulldogs Surrender Control Of Race By Losing To St. Mary’s

Suddenly, Gonzaga University needs help.

GU entered Friday night’s next-to-last regular-season men’s basketball game against Saint Mary’s tied with the Gaels and Santa Clara for the West Coast Conference lead - but still in control of its own destiny.

That situation changed dramatically when Saint Mary’s made eight consecutive free throws in the final 32 seconds to hold off an inspired GU comeback and hand the Bulldogs a crushing 74-72 defeat in front of a sellout crowd of more than 3,500 at McKeon Pavilion.

The defeat dropped Gonzaga to 15-10 overall and 8-5 in the WCC, a game behind the Gaels (19-7, 9-4) and Santa Clara (15-10, 9-4), which will provide the opposition for the Bulldogs in tonight’s 7:30 regular-season finale at Toso Pavilion.

A win over the Broncos could still give GU a share of the WCC title but only if Portland upsets Saint Mary’s.

If that happens, the Bulldogs would earn the No. 1 seed into next weekend’s WCC Tournament, which will determine the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. But a more likely scenario would have either Saint Mary’s or Santa Clara cast in that role.

And if it turns out to be the Gaels, they can thank sophomore reserve guard Frank Knight, who scored 16 points and went 6 for 6 from the freethrow line at crunch time.

Knight’s deadly foul shooting offset the late offensive heroics of GU’s Matt Santangelo and snuffed out a persistent Bulldog rally that had erased the 10-point lead Saint Mary’s built midway through the second half.

Knight, an 80 percent-plus foul shooter, finished 10 of 11 from the line.

“Obviously, he wasn’t the guy we wanted to foul,” GU coach Dan Fitzgerald said, “but they did a good job of getting the ball in his hands and keeping it there.”

Santangelo finished with a game- and career-high 28 points, 19 of which came in the second half. The freshman point guard scored GU’s last nine points and 13 of its last 15.

But after Eric Knapp answered a Santangelo 3-pointer with a pair of free throws with 5 seconds remaining, it took a buzzer-beating trey to make the final score as close as it was.

GU, which trailed 36-30 at halftime, also got 17 points from Bakari Hendrix and 11 from freshman Richie Frahm.

Saint Mary’s 74, Gonzaga 72

Gonzaga (15-10, 8-5) - Leasure 0-4 0-0 0, Dench 1-1 4-4 6, Hendrix 7-15 3-6 17, Santangelo 9-19 7-8 28, Rollins 3-12 0-1 6, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Nemeth 0-0 0-0 0, Frahm 3-4 3-4 11, Griffin 0-0 0-0 0, Eaton 1-1 2-2 4. Totals 24-56 19-25 72.

Saint Mary’s (19-7, 9-4) - Schraeder 1-2 0-0 2, Unruh 0-0 0-0 0, Millard 4-11 4-5 12, Sivulich 5-14 5-5 16, Sufi 2-2 3-3 8, Greer 2-2 0-0 4, Allocco 0-0 0-0 0, Knapp 2-6 3-4 8, Dodic 0-0 0-0 0, Rollins 4-6 0-2 8, Knight 3-7 10-11 16, Varga 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 25-30 74.

Halftime-St. Mary’s 36, Gonzaga 30. 3-Point goals-Gonzaga 5-13 (Leasure 0-2, Santangelo 3-5, Rollins 0-4, Frahm 2-2), St. Mary’s 3-12 (Schraeder 0-1, Sivulich 1-6, Sufi 1-1, Knapp 1-3, Knight 0-1). Fouled out-Hendrix, Eaton, Unruh. Rebounds-Gonzaga 31 (Hendrix 10), St. Mary’s 35 (Millard 10). Assists-Gonzaga 7 (Santangelo 3), St. Mary’s 12 (Sufi 5). Total fouls-Gonzaga 25, St. Mary’s 22. A-3,126.