Buzzer breakdown: Backup Harry Wessels makes crucial defensive plays in Saint Mary’s win over Gonzaga

Here are three observations from Gonzaga’s 62-58 West Coast Conference loss to Saint Mary’s on Saturday at UCU Pavilion.
Zags-Gaels deliver dramatic finish
No surprise here: Another Gonzaga-Saint Mary’s game went down to the wire, requiring one of the WCC heavyweights to step up in a big way in the final minutes.
The Zags and Gaels both had their moments late, but the home team came up with a few key plays when it mattered to prevail in the first regular-season meeting between the rivals.
Gonzaga trailed by three points when point guard Ryan Nembhard stepped up to hit a 3-pointer from the top of the arc – just the third of the game for the Zags – to even the score at 58.
With starting all-conference center Mitchell Saxen out of the game after picking up his fifth foul, backup Harry Wessels drew a foul on Gonzaga’s Ben Gregg and made a pair of free throws to give Saint Mary’s a two-point lead.
After Nembhard missed a 3-pointer, Wessels stuffed Graham Ike’s layup, but a missed free throw from Luke Barrett gave Gonzaga a chance to tie or win on the following possession.
Nembhard inbounded to Ike, who airballed a corner 3-pointer, giving the Gaels a chance to close at the game from the free-throw line.
Assist maestro does it again
Death, taxes and Nembhard reaching double digits in the assists column.
Gonzaga’s point guard has done it 14 times this season, totaling 12 in the first 2025 meeting between the Zags and Gaels. Nembhard had seven assists by halftime and quickly reached double figures, throwing passes to Gregg and Ike.
Nembhard, the national assists leader at 9.9 per game entering the day, is up to 229 this season and needs only 14 more to tie his single-season program record, set last year against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32.
Gaels take early control with hot start
Defensive-minded Saint Mary’s was just as good on the offensive end of the floor during the opening stages .
Shooting 46% from the field and 34% from the 3-point line this season, the Gaels made eight of their first nine shots from the field and finished the first half shooting better from the 3-point line (58%) than the field (50%) and free-throw line (33%).
Saint Mary’s, which made seven or fewer 3s in 12 games this season, had that many at halftime. That included two 3-pointers – one from Augustas Marciulionis, another from Mikey Lewis – that ricocheted off the backboard before dropping through the net.
The Gaels took the game’s first lead, held a 14-point advantage midway through the first half and didn’t trail until the 16-minute, 13-second mark of the second half.