Saint Mary’s Suffers Disappointing Loss To Gonzaga At The Kennel
By Mike Rose
Jan 2, 2014; Spokane, WA, USA; Saint Marys Gaels forward Beau Levesque (15) grabs a rebound against Gonzaga Bulldogs center Sam Dower (35) during the first half at McCarthey Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
The Saint Mary’s Gaels took on the 24th-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs Thursday night at the always tough to play at Kennel in Spokane, Wash. In this WCC rivalry game, Gonzaga coach Marc Few has a now 26-7 record over Randy Bennett as the Gaels fell hard, losing 73-51. Bennett, who is serving the second game of a five-game suspension, would have liked nothing better than to beat the Bulldogs on their own turf.
The first half was a tough one for the Gaels as they went flat during much of the latter part of the half. The Gaels, who were No. 3-ranked from behind the arc nationally, were shut down, going 0-for-8.
The Gaels kept pace with the Bulldogs until the media timeout with 7:31 to play in the first half. The score was tied 18-18. After the timeout, Gonzaga went on a 10-0 run and the Gaels simply were unable to recover. In the last four minutes of the half, the Gaels would score just four points. They went into the locker room needing to regroup, down 36-22.
In the half, most impressive was Beau Levesque. He hit the first six points of the night for the Gaels. He went 5-for-7 from the floor with 10 points.
The main problem of the half for the Gaels was simply poor shooting, In comparison, the Gaels went 9-for-28 (31.1 percent) from the floor as opposed to the Zags, who went 12-for-23 (52.2 percent). The Gaels had no assists, no threes and were in need of re-structuring for the second half.
The second half started off equally disastrous. Gonzaga continued to play aggressive and build the lead on the Gaels. With 10 minutes to play in the game, the Gaels still had ZERO assists and ZERO 3s. They were down 54-35.
With 7:35 to play, the Gaels were down 61-38 and had been outscored 43-20 since the game was tied in the first half. The Gaels got stuck at 38 for more than three minutes as Gonzaga built the lead to 66-38 with 4:25 to play.
In a very unusual night for the Gaels, their first assist came with 3:32 to play in the game. Their first 3 came off a Jordan Giusti jumper with three minutes left. The Gaels cut into the once 30-point Gonzaga lead and trailed 70-45 with 2:31 to play. It was too little, too late in a game the Gaels would just as soon forget was played.
Statistically the Gaels finished the night, 15-for-47 (31.9 percent) from the floor. They ended 1-for-12 (8.3 percent) from 3. Beau Levesque was the only player in double digits with 12. The Gaels have lost four of their last five games.
For the Bulldogs, they finished 24-for-49 (49 percent) from the floor. They were 9-for-19 (47.4 percent) from behind the arc. Leading the way for the Bulldogs were Kevin Pangos and Przemek Karnowski, who both had 15. Angel Nunez had 13 and Kyle Dranginis had 12.
The Gaels need to forget this game, learn from their mistakes and look forward. Their focus needs to move to the next game, where they face the Portland Pilots at Portland. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. Pacific Saturday night.