The St. Mary's Gaels (20-3, 10-0 WCC) edged out the Gonzaga Bulldogs (16-7, 7-3 WCC) in a thrilling West Coast Conference matchup, solidifying their position at the top of the conference. Despite a valiant comeback from Gonzaga, St. Mary's proved too strong in the closing minutes, overcoming a double-digit deficit and securing a hard-fought victory.
In a thrilling finale to a day packed with college basketball drama, the Gonzaga Bulldogs and St. Mary's Gaels delivered a heart-stopping showdown from University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, California. Despite valiantly clawing their way back from a double-digit deficit early in the game, the Bulldogs (16-7, 7-3 WCC) fell just short in another agonizingly close loss. Mark Few and his team faced a formidable St.
Mary's Gaels (20-3, 10-0 WCC), who solidified their commanding lead in the West Coast Conference. \Gonzaga's resilience was on full display as they fought back from a 14-point deficit in the first half. However, the Gaels' defense proved to be too much to overcome in the closing minutes. Despite Gonzaga's efforts to disrupt St. Mary's rhythm with a zone defense, the Gaels secured crucial offensive rebounds. Mark Few, Gonzaga's head coach, expressed his disappointment with the outcome, stating, 'It's tough. I mean our guys fought like crazy and did a great job playing some really, really solid basketball at a tough venue; to dig yourself back into the game, put yourself in a position to win it and just, didn't make enough plays down the stretch. We had a couple of empty possessions, missed some close shots. We really had them flustered with the zone but we gave up some critical offensive rebounds.' \The final moments of the game were particularly tense. With just five seconds remaining, Gonzaga's Graham Ike missed a three-pointer from the corner, aiming to tie the game. Few explained their strategic approach during that crucial possession, saying, 'We were trying to get coming back out and he literally got tackled and held. We got to fight off that better or something, but we didn't quite execute all the way through.' Despite their valiant efforts, Gonzaga was unable to secure the win, ultimately succumbing to St. Mary's strong performance. Few acknowledged the recurring theme of close losses in recent games, stating, 'We're not making shots at the end of these games and we're not getting stops at the end of these games. We did a much better job with that this game. And again, it comes down to usually one play so you can't just point to this and say, well, we got to do this; it's a variety of things. But the numbers aren't good in the last 4 minutes. But actually the last 4 minutes weren't bad tonight, it was just finishing it off.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL WEST COAST CONFERENCE ST. MARY's GAELS GONZAGA BULLDOGS MARK FEW RANDY BENNETT JORDAN ROSS GRAHAM IKE
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