Santa Clara Gets Big Win Over San Diego

That much needed defense finally showed up for Santa Clara.

The Broncos got back into the win column on Thursday as they beat San Diego 61-52 and moved into sole possession of fourth place in the West Coast Conference.

The win snapped a short two-game skid for Santa Clara (18-8, 6-5 WCC) moved them a half a game ahead of San Diego for fourth place, which would guarantee a bye into the quarterfinals of the WCC Basketball Championships in three weeks.

San Diego (13-14, 6-6) led 38-35 after a layup from Chris Anderson but then Santa Clara turned it around with help from its bench. The Broncos went on a 10-2 run, including six points from Brandon Clark, which gave them a 47-42 lead with 6:42 left.

Santa Clara led by as much as 11 in the final minutes.

Marc Trasolini paced the Broncos with 17 points and 11 rebounds, his seventh double-double of the season. Clark finished with 11 points.

The Broncos held San Diego to 33 percent shooting from the field and held sharpshooting Johnny Dee to 15 points on 5-for-17 shooting and 1-for-9 from three.

San Diego also committed 16 turnovers, resulting in 16 Santa Clara points.

Santa Clara will host Pepperdine on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Leavey Center.