Team effort lifts Bulldogs

SAN FRANCISCO – With the end of a long, taxing and often complex regular season on the immediate horizon, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have managed to boil the sometimes complicated game of college basketball down to the most basic of approaches:

Just find a way.

The undermanned, undersized, yet highly resourceful Zags did that once again Saturday, using major contributions from a variety of players to dig out an 86-79 West Coast Conference overtime win against the University of San Francisco and get back into a tie for first place with Santa Clara, which was upset by Loyola-Marymount.

Matt Bouldin and Derek Raivio each dropped 21 points on the Dons and Abdullahi Kuso blocked three shots and, seemingly, chased down every important rebound when it mattered most as GU kept its hopes of capturing at least a share of its seventh consecutive regular-season conference title alive – much to the despair of most in a sellout War Memorial Gymnasium crowd of 4,500.

“That was just a gutsy, gutsy win,” coach Mark Few said, after watching his Bulldogs (20-10, 10-3 WCC) will their way past an equally game USF team (12-17, 7-6) that was dealing with some major manpower shortages. “They were banking in 3s on us and making some big shots, but I thought we did a nice job of weathering some storms.”

The Zags did it while once again getting nothing from suspended starting forward and leading rebounder Josh Heytvelt – and little from hobbled senior forward Sean Mallon (ankle) and ailing sophomore guard Jeremy Pargo, who was sick with the flu and, according to Few, throwing up right up until tipoff.

In addition, backup center David Burgess didn’t make the trip because of the flu, although the 6-foot-11 sophomore is expected to rejoin the team in San Diego for Monday night’s regular-season finale against USD in the Toreros’ Jenny Craig Pavilion.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Few added. “We’re down in numbers, but they’re battling and playing with their hearts.”

USF, which was missing starters Armondo Surratt and Jay Watkins because of knee injuries, gamely badgered GU throughout the contest and seemed ready to take control when sophomore guard Manny Quezada, who finished with 21 points, banked in a well-defended and hurried 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Dons up 66-63 with 2 minutes, 42 seconds remaining in regulation.

But the Bulldogs sandwiched a pair of Raivio free throws between a couple of key defensive stops and forced the extra period when Bouldin made the first of two free throws – but missed the second – with 6 seconds left.

They went on to dominate the overtime, using stepped-up pressure in their zone defense to quash USF on five of its first six possessions, while getting a big bucket from Bouldin on a questionable goaltending call and then turning things over to Raivio, who went 8 for 8 from the foul line in the final 1:33 to run his WCC-record for consecutively made free throws to 56.

“We kind of came out at the beginning of the game acting cool and didn’t play all that scrappy,” said Raivio, who made up for his 3-for-9 shooting from 3-point range by going 10 for 10 from the foul line. “And that’s what we’ve got to do with our small lineup.”

The Dons, who sprinted to a 9-2 lead and had the Zags down by 50-45 midway through the second half, got a game-high 26 points from sophomore guard Antonio Kellogg.

Few said much of his team’s success in OT was the result of the extended pressure the Zags applied out of their zone defense.

“Anywhere inside of halfcourt, with Quezada and Kellogg, is in their range,” Few explained in reference to the eight 3-pointers that the Dons’ backcourt duo knocked down. “We tell our guys that, but they always seem to want them to prove it, and (they) proved it today. So, we just kept having to scoot and scoot and scoot, and extend our zone. And it finally paid off.”

Still, the biggest key to the game might have been the way Bouldin, a 6-5 freshman, responded after blowing a chance to give GU a lead by missing his second free throw near the end of regulation.

“He hit a big free throw to tie it,” Few said of Bouldin, who had four rebounds and four assists to go along with his 21 points, which matched his career high.

“And even though he missed the second one, he didn’t dwell on it. He came back to make play after play (in the overtime).”

Gonzaga 86, USF 79 (OT)

Percentages: FG .468, FT .800. 3-Point Goals: 8-18, .444 (Downs 4-6, Raivio 3-9, Pendergraft 1-1, Mallon 0-1, Pargo 0-1). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 3 (Kuso 3). Turnovers: 15 (Pargo 4, Raivio 4, Kuso 2, Altidor-Cespedes 2, Downs 2, Pendergraft). Steals: 6 (Pargo 3, Raivio, Downs, Pendergraft). Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .419, FT .652. 3-Point Goals: 12-28, .429 (Kellogg 6-12, Dukes 2-3, Cavic 2-4, Quezada 2-6, Hernandez 0-3). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 4 (Wiggins Jr. 2, Dukes, Quezada). Turnovers: 20 (Kellogg 8, Wiggins Jr. 4, Quezada 4, Dukes 3, Cavic). Steals: 5 (Cavic 2, Quezada 2, Kellogg). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime—Gonzaga 38, San Francisco 34. Regulation—Gonzaga 66, San Francisco 66. A—4,500.