Thursday, February 27
Santa Clara, CA
7:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
24-6,11-4WCC
78
at
72
Santa Clara
18-12,5-10WCC
1
2
F
Saint Mary's (CA)
35
43
78
Santa Clara
31
41
72
Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
MBB | Ford Tallies 33 in Win over Santa Clara
2/27/2020 9:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Saint Mary's (24-6, 11-4 WCC) trudged past a persistent Santa Clara team in the Gaels' penultimate game of the regular season, 78-72, and will now head to Spokane for an ever-important contest against the No. 3 Zags on Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jordan Ford had another stellar offensive game with a game-high 33 points on 63 percent shooting. The senior recorded four dimes and went 3-for-7 from deep as he played all 40 minutes. It was the fifth time this season Ford has put up 30 or more points in a game and he was just three points off his career-high.
The Gaels had to fight through a tough night from outside the arc as they went 6-for-20 on such attempts. The team hit their threes when they needed them however including big momentum swinging treys by Ford and Malik Fitts 48 seconds apart to put SMC up by six with four minutes to play.
Fitts was the team's second highest scorer with 14 while Dan Fotu collected 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Tanner Krebs grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds as well in the winning effort.
Tahj Eaddy scored eight straight points early in the final half to give Santa Clara the lead for the first time in over 14 minutes however SMC immediately replied with a 10-0 run to go back up by seven. A flurry of 3-pointers by the Broncos tied the game up for the fourth time with 7:51 remaining on the clock.
After going bucket for bucket for a few minutes, the Gaels held on for the win as they scored 10 of the last 15 points in the contest with Ford and Fitts accounting for eight of those.
Saint Mary's held a 35-31 lead after 20 minutes of play and were led by Ford's 15. SMC shot 52 percent in the half but were just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. Fitts and Fotu also had seven points a piece.
The Broncos led for the first 11 minutes of the game before the Gaels edged ahead on a Fotu free throw, 19-18. SMC would add two more points as part of an 11-0 run to go up three.
Eaddy scored 20 points to lead the Broncos. Keshawn Justice and Giordan Williams added 11 each.
Saint Mary's separated late in the half as their defense forced the Broncos to go 1-for-14 over a six minute stretch. The Gaels were up by nine with 2:21 to play in the period after a difficult Ford layup.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
86: Saint Mary's made 86 percent of their free throws (12-of-14).
16: Kristers Zoriks was +16 in terms of plus-minus in 19 minutes on the court.
40: SMC scored 40 of their points in the paint.
6: The Gaels outrebounded the Broncos by six in the final half and 34-31 overall.
UP NEXT: NO. 3 GONZAGA
Saint Mary's concludes their regular season schedule with a road game in Spokane on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game can be watched live on ESPN2 or listened to on TuneIn Radio.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jordan Ford had another stellar offensive game with a game-high 33 points on 63 percent shooting. The senior recorded four dimes and went 3-for-7 from deep as he played all 40 minutes. It was the fifth time this season Ford has put up 30 or more points in a game and he was just three points off his career-high.
The Gaels had to fight through a tough night from outside the arc as they went 6-for-20 on such attempts. The team hit their threes when they needed them however including big momentum swinging treys by Ford and Malik Fitts 48 seconds apart to put SMC up by six with four minutes to play.
Fitts was the team's second highest scorer with 14 while Dan Fotu collected 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Tanner Krebs grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds as well in the winning effort.
Tahj Eaddy scored eight straight points early in the final half to give Santa Clara the lead for the first time in over 14 minutes however SMC immediately replied with a 10-0 run to go back up by seven. A flurry of 3-pointers by the Broncos tied the game up for the fourth time with 7:51 remaining on the clock.
After going bucket for bucket for a few minutes, the Gaels held on for the win as they scored 10 of the last 15 points in the contest with Ford and Fitts accounting for eight of those.
Saint Mary's held a 35-31 lead after 20 minutes of play and were led by Ford's 15. SMC shot 52 percent in the half but were just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. Fitts and Fotu also had seven points a piece.
The Broncos led for the first 11 minutes of the game before the Gaels edged ahead on a Fotu free throw, 19-18. SMC would add two more points as part of an 11-0 run to go up three.
Eaddy scored 20 points to lead the Broncos. Keshawn Justice and Giordan Williams added 11 each.
Saint Mary's separated late in the half as their defense forced the Broncos to go 1-for-14 over a six minute stretch. The Gaels were up by nine with 2:21 to play in the period after a difficult Ford layup.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
86: Saint Mary's made 86 percent of their free throws (12-of-14).
16: Kristers Zoriks was +16 in terms of plus-minus in 19 minutes on the court.
40: SMC scored 40 of their points in the paint.
6: The Gaels outrebounded the Broncos by six in the final half and 34-31 overall.
UP NEXT: NO. 3 GONZAGA
Saint Mary's concludes their regular season schedule with a road game in Spokane on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game can be watched live on ESPN2 or listened to on TuneIn Radio.
Team Stats
SMC
SCU
FG%
.517
.407
3FG%
.300
.333
FT%
.857
.842
RB
34
31
TO
7
6
STL
5
6
Game Leaders
Pts
33
FGM
12
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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