No. 23 Gonzaga Falls at Santa Clara 77-76

Thursday, January 11

Santa Clara, CA

6:30 p.m.

Gonzaga University

11-5,2-1WCC

Santa Clara

12-6,3-0WCC

Team	1	2	F
Gonzaga	34	42	76
Santa Clara	40	37	77

Box Score (pdf)

1/11/2024 9:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

Watson matches career-high of 32 points and nine rebounds

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Adama-Alpha Bal scored the go-ahead basket with 4.6 seconds remaining and Santa Clara beat No. 23 Gonzaga 77-76 on Thursday night.

Bal had 17 points and six assists as the Broncos (12-6, 3-0 West Coast Conference) beat the Bulldogs for the first time since Jan. 20, 2011, snapping a 26-game losing streak.

Santa Clara's Brenton Knapper added 16 points.

Anton Watson matched a career-high with 32 points to lead Gonzaga (11-5, 2-1). He added nine rebounds and six steals in the loss.

Ryan Nembhard scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and Braden Huff added 14 points.

In the first half Santa Clara built a 38-25 lead. But the Bulldogs closed the first half on a 9-2 run to cut the Broncos' lead to 40-34 at halftime.

Trailing 52-44, Gonzaga went on a 19-6 run to take a 63-58 lead with 10:48 remaining. Santa Clara cut the lead to 76-74 on a dunk by Johnny O'Neil with 50 seconds remaining.

Following a Bulldogs miss, Bal drew a foul with 14.3 seconds left but only made one of two free throws, cutting the lead to 76-75.

Gonzaga missed the front end of a one-and-one, allowing Santa Clara to get another chance and Bal scored the go-ahead basket.

UP NEXT
Gonzaga: At Pepperdine next Thursday night.

Santa Clara: Hosts Saint Mary's (CA) on Saturday night.