Santa Clara stays unbeaten at home, hands Saint Mary’s just its second road loss in three years

SANTA CLARA — Santa Clara was unbeaten at home this season and Saint Mary’s had lost just once on the road in 23 games since the start of the 2023-24 campaign.

Something had to give.

The Broncos emphatically defended their home court Saturday, outscoring the Gaels 10-1 over the first 8 minutes of the second half on the way to a 62-54 victory at Leavey Center.

Santa Clara (16-5, 6-1) handed Saint Mary’s (17-3, 6-1) its first West Coast Conference defeat and snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Gaels in the 240th meeting between the Bay Area rivals. The Broncos remain perfect at home, improving to 11-0.

“It was a huge win,” said Broncos sophomore guard Christian Hammond, whose 25 points led all scorers. “The guys were really excited coming into this weekend. They’re a great team. We were just real focused and real determined.”

Saint Mary’s, which had beaten Santa Clara in 29 of their previous 33 meetings, didn’t go quietly, even after the Broncos pushed their lead to 42-26 after two free throws by Hammond with 12:49 left.

The Gaels came alive, scoring 12 unanswered points, four of them by sophomore Tony Duckett. The run pulled Saint Mary’s within 42-38 with 8:46 to play. When center Andrew McKeever muscled in a layup, the Gaels trailed just 50-48 with 3’08 left.

Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek knew the Gaels would make a push and he was proud of the way his team responded. “They kept their poise. Really didn’t see anybody even flinch,” he said. “We just continued to do what we do.”

A driving layup by Hammond and two free throws by Allen Graves boosted the Broncos’ lead back to six points, triggering a 12-6 closing run.

Santa Clara held the Gaels to a season-low 31.6 percent (18 for 57) from the field. The WCC’s most efficient 3-point team, the Gaels made just 4 of 22 shots from beyond the arc.

“We did not shoot it very well. Some of it was them, some of it was us,” said Gaels coach Randy Bennett, whose team fell out of a first-place tie with No. 9 Gonzaga.

The Gaels only road defeat in the past three seasons was a one-point setback at San Francisco last year. Bennett knew another road defeat would come eventually.

“It didn’t have to be tonight,” he said. “It’s hard. They’re good. We didn’t play well enough to win on the road. If we want to have a streak like that again, we better play better than that.”

Junior forward Paulius Murauskas, who entered the game averaging a WCC-best 19.3 points, had 12 points and 10 rebounds but managed only seven shot attempts.

Sendek acknowledged the defensive work done by Graves and Jake Ensminger, but said it took a village.

“He’s a tremendous player,” Sendek said of Murauskas. “I thought our guys collectively a good job. It took everybody doing his job to have a chance.”

The Gaels’ three primary perimeter players, Joshua Dent, Mikey Lewis and Dillan Shaw, totaled 20 points on combined 6-for-33 shooting. They entered the day averaging nearly 35 points among them.

The Broncos twice led by as many as 10 points in the first half, but settled for a 32-25 edge at the break.