Banner Performance Nets Come Down As Zags Claim Crown

Make room for another banner.

Banner? Hey, it’s beginning to look like wallpaper. For the fifth time in the past six years, one form of the West Coast Conference basketball championship or another has come home to Gonzaga.

This time, the Bulldogs clinched no worse than a tie for the WCC regular-season title Saturday night with a 69-62 victory over their recent nemeses, the University of San Diego Toreros, in front of the season’s largest crowd at Martin Centre, 4,021.

Like every other game at The Kennel this season, it was packed, it was steamy and it was raucous.

But it was no wipeout.

Though the Toreros led only twice - within the game’s first minute, at that - Gonzaga could never manage to deliver a decent combination, much less the knockout punch. Not until Matt Santangelo banked in a clutch fade-away jumper with 1:05 to play did this one look like a keeper, and the final margin of victory was 11 points under what passed for GU’s previous close shave here this season.

Having survived so doggedly, the Bulldogs (21-5 overall, 11-1 WCC) helped themselves to cutting down the nets. Pepperdine’s loss at San Francisco on Friday night turned this one into the tie clincher.

“The way our tournament is set up, I just don’t think there’s enough on the line for winning the league championship,” said Dan Monson, now 2 for 2 as a head coach in winning championships. “If we’re playing for home-court advantage, there’s no way we would have cut down the nets. But the nets are about the best thing our league gives us for winning the championships and I wanted the kids to have them.”

To go with the WCC Tournament title they won in 1995, the Bulldogs have now won or shared the regular-season crown in 1994, 1996, 1998 and now 1999.

“This year, I think we believed it should have been ours all along,” said Santangelo. “It was a goal we had set. Last year, as the season progressed, we just started to believe a little more each game. This year, we started out with that belief.

“Our ultimate goal has always been to get to the big dance, but this was a goal to get along the way - and I’m just happy we accomplished it early.”

It was hard-earned, to be sure. The Toreros wouldn’t have it any other way.

Coach Brad Holland’s team had won five of the previous seven meetings against GU, including a 76-59 romp in San Diego last week - the Zags’ lone WCC loss, in which they couldn’t seem to get a stop or a rebound.

The Toreros (16-8, 7-5) certainly shot the ball well again - 51.3 percent - but only got off 39 attempts. Gonzaga forced them into 19 turnovers and allowed just seven offensive rebounds - none in the game’s final 16 minutes.

And yet there they were, hanging around until the bitter end.

“They match up with us so well,” said Santangelo, “but the biggest difference is that they believe. A lot of teams in our league come into this building and don’t believe they can win. San Diego has done it, they did it two years ago, and they really believe they have our number.”

One Torero does, for sure. Reserve Tom Lippold again came off the bench to do major damage with a 21-point performance - about 16 over his average. But the Zags did manage to put the clamps on USD scoring leader Ryan Williams, who after four straight games of 18 points or more settled for just 13 - and only three rebounds.

“Our defensive effort,” said Monson, “was just a whole lot better tonight.”

Gonzaga managed some minor separation from USD early in the first half with the game knotted at seven. Lamont Smith was whistled for fouling Santangelo and picked up a taunting technical from referee Ken Ditty - leading to four Santangelo free throws. Mike Leasure, one of three GU seniors enjoying their final home game, followed with a 3-pointer on the subsequent possession, and after a USD turnover, Casey Calvary posted up for a 16-7 GU lead. Williams would finally stop the bleeding with a pick-and-roll layup, but that would be his last basket for nearly 23 minutes.

Gonzaga used center Jeremy Eaton, who had a team-high 18 points, to good advantage in the early stages of both halves, and seemed to be inching away when the lead stretched past 10 midway through the second half. But the Zags missed 4 of 7 free throws in a 2-minute stretch and Lippold reeled off seven straight points to pull the Toreros back into contention, down 56-51.

Three huge GU buckets followed - a 10-footer by Eaton over Cameron Rigby, a driving layup by Santangelo when the defense inexplicably parted down the key and finally Santangelo’s levitating 8-footer with 65 seconds left.

Gonzaga 69, San Diego 62

San Diego (16-8, 7-5) - White 2-3 4-4 9, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Hanson 0-0 0-0 0, Jacobsen 2-8 6-7 10, Williams 6-11 0-0 13, Laws 1-2 0-0 2, Rigby 1-2 1-2 3, Lippold 6-8 7-11 21, Knoll 0-1 0-0 0, Powell 2-2 0-1 4. Totals 20-39 18-25 62.

Gonzaga (21-5, 11-1) - Hall 4-7 5-8 15, Santangelo 3-10 7-7 13, Eaton 8-11 2-4 18, Leasure 1-2 0-0 3, Frahm 0-5 5-6 5, Spink 1-1 0-0 2, Nilson 1-2 2-3 4, Dench 0-1 0-0 0, Calvary 3-5 0-1 6, Floyd 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 22-48 21-29 69.

Halftime-Gonzaga 36, San Diego 28. 3-Point goals-San Diego 4-10 (Lippold 2-2, White 1-2, Williams 1-1, Jacobsen 0-2, Laws 0-1, Rigby 0-1, Smith 0-1) Gonzaga 4-18 (Hall 2-5, Leasure 1-2, Floyd 1-3, Santangelo 0-3, Frahm 0-4, Nilson 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-San Diego 27 (White 4), Gonzaga 26 (Hall, Calvary, Floyd 4). Assists-San Diego 9 (White 5), Gonzaga 11 (Santangelo 5). Total fouls-San Diego 25, Gonzaga 23. Technicals-San Diego, Smith. A-4,021.