Santa Clara Completes Rally in Overtime

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Marlon Garnett scored 20 points, eight in overtime, as Santa Clara defeated St. Mary’s, 71-68, Wednesday night in the West Coast Conference.

Brian Jones and Todd Wuschnig added 13 points each and Lloyd Pierce had 11 for Santa Clara (8-7, 2-1 WCC), which rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit.

Eric Knapp, Brad Millard and David Sivulich had 15 points each for St. Mary’s (11-5, 1-2 WCC), which lost for the fifth straight time to its arch-rival.

Garnett had two 3-point goals in overtime--the second with 45 seconds left--to put Santa Clara ahead for good, 68-66.

Wuschnig, who had missed four straight free throws, hit two with 22 seconds left in overtime to give Santa Clara a 70-66 lead. Pierce made one of two free throws with 16 seconds left for the final margin.

Sivulich and Frank Knight missed 3-point tries that would have forced a second overtime. Millard had missed two free throws with 24 seconds left that also could have tied the game.

St. Mary’s held Santa Clara without a field goal during a 12:34 span in the first half to take a 27-11 lead. But the Broncos went on a 13-2 run the final 3:09 to trail the Gaels 33-29 at the half.

Santa Clara took a 44-43 lead on an offensive rebound by Pierce with 13:19 left in regulation. The basket was part of a 14-2 Santa Clara run that gave the Broncos a 53-45 lead with 9:03 to go.

St. Mary’s drew within two points three times before finally tying the game at 60-60 on Millard’s dunk with 38 seconds remaining in regulation. Jones missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer for Santa Clara with eight seconds left, forcing overtime.