With McConnell cold, St. Mary's tops Santa Clara
Steve Kroner, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, March 6, 2011
(03-06) 04:00 PST LAS VEGAS -- - It says something about St. Mary's that on a night that West Coast Conference Player of the Year Mickey McConnell went without a field goal for the first 37 minutes and finished with only one, the Gaels still prevailed Sunday.
St. Mary's moved into Monday night's WCC tournament final by knocking off Santa Clara 73-64. The Gaels (24-7) will try to defend their title against the winner of Sunday's late game between USF and Gonzaga.
Sophomore forward Mitchell Young led the Gaels with 17 points and freshman guard Stephen Holt added 15.
Santa Clara (19-14) got a game-high 22 points from forward Marc Trasolini and 18 from guard Kevin Foster. The Gaels, though, limited Foster to a 5-for-18 night from the floor, including 4-for-12 from three-point range.
The Gaels led by two early in the second half before going on an 11-3 spurt. Holt began the stretch with a nice move along the left baseline.
Moments later, Rob Jones - who picked up two early fouls and did not score in the first half - took the left-baseline path for what became a three-point play.
After Santa Clara's Evan Roquemore connected on a long three-pointer, Holt made two free-throw tries, Young had a putback of a Jones miss and then McConnell threaded a pass to Young for a layup. Make it 44-34, Gaels.
The Broncos scored the next seven points, the final three on a Foster jumper from beyond the arc.
With about nine minutes remaining, Foster was good from beyond the arc and the Broncos trailed 50-47. On the ensuing possession, Matthew Dellavedova's assist set up Holt for a three, restoring the Gaels' lead to six.
St. Mary's was up 53-50 when Dellavedova went to the line for two shots with 6:30 to go. He dropped home both free-throw tries, starting a 7-0 run.
Young powered down the lane for a layup. Moments later, Young went 1-for-2 at the line (his miss was the Gaels' first after 11 makes). After that, Dellavedova whipped a pass to Young for a jam. The Gaels were up by 10.
The Broncos would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.
The biggest lead for either team in the first half was four points. After Foster hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 3:52 left, the Broncos were on top 26-22.
The Gaels scored the next seven points as Dellavedova contributed on all seven. First, the sophomore guard made a three-pointer. He followed that with a floater in the lane, then fed Tim Williams for a slam and the Gaels owned a 29-26 edge.
Foster found Trasolini for a three-pointer to tie the game at the one-minute mark.
McConnell was fouled with 7.4 seconds remaining. He made both foul shots and the Gaels took a 31-29 advantage to the locker room.
Trasolini (12) and Foster (10) were the only players to have reached double-figure scoring by the break.
Briefly: For the first time this season, St. Mary's junior forward Clint Steindl did not start. Head coach Randy Bennett went with a three-guard lineup, replacing Steindl with Holt, a freshman. ... The Gaels went 23-for-27 from the foul line. The Broncos were 15-for-23.
at 6'9" he'll be a great addition for gilas...
