Santa Clara remains undefeated at home and hands Saint Mary’s only its second road loss in three years

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

Something had to give.

The Broncos made an emphatic defense of their home court on Saturday, outscoring the Gaels 10-1 in the first eight minutes of the second half en route to a 62-54 win at Leavey Center.

Santa Clara (16-5, 6-1) handed Saint Mary’s (17-3, 6-1) its first West Coast Conference loss and snapped an eight-game losing streak to 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 boys were really excited coming into this weekend. They’re a great team. We were just really focused and determined.”

Saint Mary’s, which had defeated Santa Clara in 29 of their previous 33 meetings, was not uneventful even after the Broncos pushed their lead to 42-26 on two Hammond free throws with 12:49 remaining.

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 made a layup, the Gaels trailed just 50-48 with 3’08 to go.

Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek knew the Gaels would make a push and he was proud of the way his team responded. “They stayed calm. I really didn’t see anyone flinch,” he said. “We just kept doing what we were doing.”

A driving layup from Hammond and two free throws from Allen Graves pushed the Broncos’ lead back to six points on a 12-6 final run.

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

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

The only loss to the Gaels in the last three seasons was a one-point setback last year in San Francisco. Bennett knew there would eventually be another defeat on the road.

“It didn’t have to be tonight,” he said. “It’s tough. 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 19.3 points in the WCC, had 12 points and 10 rebounds but only managed seven shot attempts.

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

“He’s a great player,” Sendek said of Murauskas. “I thought our guys did a good job together. Everyone had to do their job to have a chance.”