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Fast Start Carries Santa Clara over Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Santa Clara Broncos jumped out to a 20-point first half lead and then held off a second half Portland rally for a 75-63 victory before 1,713 fans Saturday afternoon at the Chiles Center. Sophomores Kevin Bailey and Thomas van der Mars scored 11 points each to lead the Pilots, while senior point guard Derrick Rodgers added nine points and seven assists in his final home game.
Santa Clara was led by its three seniors as Kevin Foster scored a game-high 20 points, while Marc Trasolini and Raymond Cowels III added 17 each.
The Pilots (11-19, 4-11 WCC) trailed 42-22 after a Foster three-pointer with 2:47 left in the first half, but Portland closed the half with a Bailey 25-footer just before the buzzer to bring the deficit to 44-30.
Portland opened the second half with a 7-0 run to made it 44-37, but the Broncos (20-9, 8-6) scored the next seven points for a 14-point margin once again. A dunk by Yannick Atanga gave SCU a 57-44 edge before the Pilots put forth one more run.
Ryan Nicholas and Derrick Rodgers made consecutive layups, and then Tanner Riley converted a three-point play to make it a 57-52 game with 6:25 remaining. The Pilots got another defensive stop, but turned it over Trasolini made consecutive layups for a nine point lead. Pilot freshman Jake Ehlers buried a three-pointer to make it a six-point deficit with 4:11 remaining, but Cowels answered with his fifth three-pointer of the day and Portland would get no closer.
Santa Clara made six consecutive field goals, including four three-pointers, to jump out to the early lead. The Broncos made 9-of-15 three-pointers and gained a 25-13 rebounding margin in the first half.
Portland struggled to 36 percent shooting from the field for the game and gave up a 12-3 margin in second chance points. The Broncos finished at 45 percent overall and had a 46-31 rebounding edge on the day sparked by 16 from Atanga.
The Pilots will get a week off before closing the regular season on Saturday, March 2 at No. 3 Gonzaga in Spokane, Wash. Tip-off for the WCC Game of the Week is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be televised on ROOT Sports, Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Comcast SportsNet California.
