Aussie Sends Pilots Down Under Dench Erupts For 28 Points As Gonzaga Overpowers Portland

Listening is one thing. Responding to what you hear is another.

And of all the Gonzaga Bulldogs who listened to coach Mark Few’s fiery halftime sermon Wednesday night, none responded with the passion and commitment of Axel Dench.

Dench, a 6-foot-11 senior center, scored GU’s first nine points of the second half and finished with a career-high 28 as the Bulldogs shook off a first-half funk to turn back University of Portland 84-66 in front of a sellout crowd of 4,018 at Martin Centre.

Dench, who came in averaging just over seven points a game, injected a much-needed dose of energy into the Bulldogs (15-5, 5-0 in the West Coast Conference), who again edged ahead of idle Pepperdine (14-5, 4-0) into sole possession of first place in the WCC standings.

The Australian native scored 23 of his points in the second half and made 11 of 16 field-goal tries, including 4 of 7 3-pointers. He scored 15 of GU’s first 17 points after intermission and stuck a dagger in the Pilots (7-11, 1-4) with a 3 from the top of the key that put the Zags ahead 62-48 with 10 minutes left.

“The team wasn’t playing as well as we know we can,” explained Dench, whose previous high point total of 22 came against Boise State last season. “And then the second half, as GU always does, we took heed of what the coaches said.

“They were kind of sagging down on Casey (Calvary) and my shot opened up, so I thought, `Why the hell not? I’ll take it. I know I can hit it.’ No one’s really going to be expecting a 7-foot guy to step up and hit 4 of 7 (3-pointers).”

On a night, when Portland throttled Gonzaga’s perimeter offense by holding Richie Frahm and Matt Santangelo to a combined 16 points, Few got a big secondhalf effort from his entire front line. Calvary finished with 16 points, Zach Gourde added 13 and Mark Spink blocked four shots.

But it was Dench who impressed Few the most.

“We challenged Axel at halftime, similar to the way we did in that Boise game,” Few said. “And to his credit, he really stepped up and played a huge half. He saved us, really.

“He had a totally different mentality. You could see it when he caught the ball. He was more attentive on the defensive end and he rebounded the ball, which he wasn’t doing in the first half.”

Portland coach Rob Chavez said he was not surprised by Dench’s offensive outburst.

“I’ve seen him play for four years now, so I knew he can shoot the basketball,” Chavez said. “We just didn’t get out on him quick enough.”

It had to be a emotionally draining experience for the Pilots, who caught the Bulldogs on an off night, played about as well as they can play and still got toasted by 18.

Ryan Jones scored a career-high 27 points for Portland and teammate Troy Collins added a career-high 20. But nothing the Pilots could do could make up for Dench’s heroics.

And now Chavez must try to rally his team for a rematch Saturday night in Portland.

“We’ve just got to play better,” he said. “We came out and did not play good the first three or four minutes of the second half and it cost us. It gave them a chance to go up by 10 and it changed the momentum of the game.”

The Pilots outplayed the Bulldogs in a big way early and led 27-20 after Tim Frost wheeled inside for an uncontested dunk with just over 5 minutes left in the first half.

The Bulldogs shot 54.5 percent in the opening period, but didn’t get a single point from Frahm, who took only two shots and finished with 10 points - seven below his average. They didn’t get their first lead until Calvary hit a free throw that made it 32-31 with 54 seconds left in the half.

It took a 12-4 run to catch the Pilots and a questionable putback at the buzzer by Gourde to give the Bulldogs a tenuous 34-31 lead at intermission.

Gourde’s basket was waved off by one official, who was promptly - and emphatically - over-ruled by another, standing near half court.

The call enraged Chavez, who stormed onto the floor, trying to tear himself free from his sports coat. The bucket stood, however, and Portland never led again.

Gonzaga 84, Portland 66

Portland (7-11) - Andrews 1-6 1-2 4, Jones 11-17 3-4 27, Frost 2-4 0-0 4, Collins 8-12 4-6 20, Jackson 1-2 0-1 2, Dejworek 3-8 0-0 6, Woodberry 0-3 0-0 0, Jorgusen 1-3 0-0 3, Kamara 0-2 0-0 0, Mills 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-57 8-13 66.

Gonzaga (15-5) - Santangelo 1-5 4-6 6, Nilson 2-4 1-2 5, Dench 11-16 2-2 28, Frahm 2-5 4-4 10, Calvary 4-9 8-10 16, Tricco 0-0 0-0 0, Spink 1-3 2-2 4, Floyd 1-2 0-0 2, Gebbers 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Gourde 5-5 3-4 13. Totals 27-49 24-30 84.

Halftime-Gonzaga 34, Portland 31. 3-Point goals-Portland 4-15 (Andrews 1-4, Jones 2-5, Dejworek 0-2, Woodberry 0-2, Jorgusen 1-2), Gonzaga 6-15 (Santangelo 0-3, Nilson 0-1, Dench 4-7, Frahm 2-3, Floyd 0-1). Fouled out-Spink. Rebounds-Portland 27 (Dejworek 5), Gonzaga 32 (Frahm, Calvary 6). Assists-Portland 15 (Woodberry, Mills 3), Gonzaga 14 (Santangelo 5). Total fouls- Portland 21, Gonzaga 17. A-4,018.