Santangelo Saves Bulldogs: OT 3-pointer wins it for Zags

In three of Gonzaga University’s four league losses this season, Matt Santangelo has been tested with a last-second shot to win or tie. In each instance, he graded out with a C.

As in “Clank.”

But Saturday, in the opening round of the West Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament, the sophomore point guard finally got it right by calmly burying a 3-pointer just before the overtime buzzer sounded to lift the top-seeded Bulldogs past eighth-seeded Loyola Marymount 79-78.

Santangelo’s jumper came from just to the right of the free-throw circle. It followed a weaving, length-of-the-floor dash, which included a nifty behind-the-back dribble at mid-court, and saved GU from the indignity of becoming the fourth consecutive No. 1 seed to be ousted in the opening round of the tournament.

So instead of joining the scrap heap of regular-season champions, the Bulldogs - after scratching back from a near-fatal 51-34 deficit with little more than 17 minutes left in regulation - live to bite another day.

Instead of scrambling to book flights back home this morning, they are preparing for tonight’s 6 o’clock semifinal against seventh-seeded San Diego, which upset No. 2 Pepperdine 56-54 Saturday night.

Fifth-seeded San Francisco and the winner of Saturday’s late game between No. 3 Santa Clara and No. 6 Portland will meet in tonight’s other semifinal, 30 minutes after the conclusion of the GU-USD game.

“It’s like having a heart attack, but being saved,” first-year coach Don Monson said following GU’s harrowing escape in Toso Pavilion. “We’re happy to still be alive, but now we’ve got to savor life even more because we get to start over tomorrow.”

Santangelo politely ran through his litany of last-second failures for reporters after the game.

“Every league (loss), with the exception of San Diego, I’ve had a shot at the buzzer to either tie it or win it,” he explained. “I’ve missed a lot, so one was bound to go in.”

This one went down just moments after Haywood Eaddy had hit a difficult, high-arching 12-footer to give LMU a 78-76 lead with 4 seconds left in OT. Santangelo’s shot was taken with all the poise and patience of a veteran who had been in the situation before.

“It wasn’t a desperation heave. It wasn’t just a shot because the clock was running out,” said Santangelo, who finished with 19 points despite making only two of the 10 previous 3-pointers he had tried. “I knew I had enough time to get down the floor and get into a range I could shoot from.”

The Lions, after using a 15-1 run to erase an early 16-5 deficit, had the Bulldogs down by 17 points on two occasions in the second half and led 67-58 with less than 6 minutes left.

GU’s comeback was fueled by backup point guard Quentin Hall, who scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half. With the second of back-to-back 3-pointers, he tied the game at 70 with 44 seconds left.

GU’s Bakari Hendrix, the WCC’s player of the year, scored a game-high 26 points and pulled down 14 rebounds before fouling out in the final 2 minutes of the extra period.

“When we got it back under 10, I knew we had a chance,” he said. “Loyola’s known for blowing leads like that during the season.”

Monson, in an obvious stab at diplomacy, quickly suggested that his star forward might have been a bit off target with his assessment of the Lions.

“They didn’t look to me like a team that has blown leads this year,” he interjected. “I really feel for Loyola. I told our kids after the game that for the first time this year I felt like we won a game we didn’t deserve to win.

“The first half was embarrassing. They played so much harder than us. They got to every loose ball, they had 14 offensive rebounds, they beat us back in transition. They were ready.”

GU 79, Loyola Marymount 78 (OT)

Loyola Marymount (7-20) - Ammerman 2-3 0-0 5, Hotopp 5-18 0-0 10, Cornell 5-10 0-0 10, Eaddy 5-10 4-4 17, Allen 3-10 0-0 8, Kennedy 3-8 7-9 13, Kainga 1-4 2-5 4, Papadopulos 0-0 0-0 0, Saucedo 1-2 1-1 3, Mashack 3-7 0-0 8. Totals 28-72 14-19 78.

Gonzaga (22-8) -Leasure 0-2 0-1 0, Dench 0-0 0-0 0, Hendrix 11-22 3-11 26, Santangelo 6-23 4-6 19, Frahm 1-9 2-2 5, Nilson 1-3 0-0 2, Hall 6-13 4-4 19, Calvary 0-1 0-0 0, Floyd 1-1 0-0 3, Griffin 1-1 3-6 5. Totals 27-75 16-30 79.

Halftime-Loyola Marymount 45, Gonzaga 31. 3-Point goals- Loyola Marymount 8-19 (Eaddy 3-4, Mashack 2-2, Allen 2-6, Ammerman 1-2, Kennedy 0-2, Hotopp 0-3), Gonzaga 9-32 (Hall 3-7, Santangelo 3-11, Floyd 1-1, Hendrix 1-5, Frahm 1-7, Leasure 0-1). Fouled out-Hendrix. Rebounds-Loyola Marymount 53 (Hotopp 14), Gonzaga 50 (Hendrix 14). Assists-Loyola Marymount 17 (Eaddy 5), Gonzaga 10 (Santangelo 3). Technicals-Cornell. Total fouls-Loyola Marymount 22, Gonzaga 17. Attendance- 3,026.

San Diego 56, Pepperdine 54

Ryan Williams scored 23 points, including the go-ahead basket with 1:16 left, as the seventh-seeded Toreros upset the second-seeded Waves.

San Francisco 83, St. Mary’s 66

M.J. Nodilo scored 21 points and four others reached double figures as the Dons defeated the Gaels.

Santa Clara 74, Portland 53

Brian Jones scored 22 points, 15 in the second half, as the Broncos defeated the Pilots. Santa Clara, seeded third, won a first-round game for the first time since its tournament championship in 1993.