Heytvelt’s ‘return’ energizes Gonzaga

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Micah Downs made his long-awaited and much-anticipated debut for Gonzaga University Saturday night. But it was the second-half “return” of Josh Heytvelt that had the greatest impact on the Bulldogs’ 77-69 West Coast Conference basketball win over Santa Clara.

Heytvelt, who has been in a recent funk that cost him his starting job, found the “on” switch again against the Broncos, scoring 10 of his 12 points after intermission to spark a second-half surge that gave coach Mark Few his 200th career victory.

Heytvelt made 6 of 9 basket tries, pulled down seven rebounds and blocked a shot as the Zags (12-6 overall, 3-0 WCC) beat SCU (11-6, 1-1) for the 13th straight time in front of a sellout Leavey Center crowd of 4,500.

“He’s one of the guys who really seemed to mature here tonight, especially in the second half,” Few said of his 6-foot-11 sophomore forward. “He came out and went to work. He had a tough-minded approach and mature look to his game tonight. … He was really solid.”

Derek Raivio, who led the Zags with 25 points despite making only 1 of 8 3-point tries, called Heytvelt’s effort “huge.”

“Especially on the defensive end,” Raivio added. “He was getting blocks and boards big time.”

The Bulldogs needed every one to turn back a veteran Santa Clara team that wanted this one badly.

The Broncos were paced by Scott Dougherty, who finished with 18 points. They also got 11 each from Sean Denison and former Shadle Park High standout and Eastern Washington transfer Danny Pariseau.

“Coach has been stressing all year that if you want to be a champion, you’ve got win on the road,” said Raivio, who saw his school-record streak of 44 consecutive made free throws snapped when he missed his first attempt from the line against the Broncos. “And we did tonight.”

Heytvelt, who played only sparingly because of foul trouble in the first half, started the second and immediately showed a sense of resolve that has been missing of late. The former Clarkston High School standout scored GU’s first six points after intermission and later capped a decisive 10-0 run with an emphatic baseline dunk that put the Zags ahead 63-51 with just more than 8 minutes left in the game.

“Right away (in the second half), he got a couple of open looks – nice open looks,” Santa Clara coach Dick Davey said of Heytvelt. “He’s a good shooter and, obviously, we didn’t guard him enough to stop him from making those.”

Santa Clara’s scoring drought spanned 6 minutes, during which the Broncos missed six field-goal attempts and turned the ball over three times. Still, SCU managed to make things interesting in the final stages, closing to within 69-66 on Dougherty’s 3-pointer from the left corner with 37 seconds left.

But the Zags closed things out by making eight consecutive free throws in the final 77 seconds.

“That’s really a good win,” Few said after his Zags picked up their first true road win of the year. “Santa Clara is a real challenger for the league championship and to come in here and get them on their home floor is big. And for us to have a successful ending on the road, that’s what young guys needed.”

Downs made his first appearance as a Zag midway through the first half and put in a couple of brief stints before affecting the game just prior to intermission. The 6-8 sophomore banked in his first shot attempt, a runner in the lane, with just more than a minute left in the opening period and backed it up on GU’s next possession by knocking down a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Bulldogs their 41-39 halftime lead.

Gonzaga 77, Santa Clara 69

Gonzaga (12-6) – Raivio 9-19 6-7 25, Kuso 2-2 0-0 4, Mallon 3-4 4-4 10, Pargo 3-13 4-7 10, Altidor-Cespedes 1-2 0-0 2, Bouldin 1-3 0-0 2, Downs 2-4 0-0 5, Pendergraft 1-1 5-5 7, Burgess 0-0 0-0 0, Heytvelt 6-9 0-0 12. Totals 28-57 19-23 77.

Santa Clara (11-6) – Dougherty 6-14 2-2 18, Denison 3-6 5-7 11, Bryant 2-3 1-2 5, Angley 4-10 1-2 9, Pariseau 4-11 1-2 11, Higgins 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-4 0-0 0, Henke 1-3 5-7 7, Parham 1-1 0-0 2, Kaempf 2-5 0-0 6. Totals 23-57 15-22 69.

Halftime—Gonzaga 41-39. 3-Point Goals—Gonzaga 2-14 (Downs 1-1, Raivio 1-8, Bouldin 0-1, Heytvelt 0-2, Pargo 0-2), Santa Clara 8-29 (Dougherty 4-11, Kaempf 2-5, Pariseau 2-6, Henke 0-1, Angley 0-2, Johnson 0-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Gonzaga 35 (Heytvelt 7), Santa Clara 32 (Bryant, Denison 7). Assists—Gonzaga 11 (Pargo 5), Santa Clara 16 (Angley, Pariseau 5). Total Fouls—Gonzaga 19, Santa Clara 21. A—4,500.