Saint Mary's Gaels at Santa Clara Broncos

Landale leads Saint Mary's past Santa Clara

The Australian center had 20 points and 11 rebounds but also some less sparkling moments in the Gaels' 72-59 win over Santa Clara on Saturday night.

"He had some turnovers. He got tired. Missed two layups. Missed two free throws," Gaels coach Randy Bennett said. "But he got us the lead, put us in the situation we were. He was really good."

Landale had five turnovers and sat the final 10 minutes after picking up his fourth foul. But senior point guard Joe Rahon said the Gaels have great confidence in their big man.

"He has great touch around the rim, so when he misses one, that's a rarity," Rahon said. "He's been great all year, and we're going to keep riding him."

The Gaels (19-2, 9-1 West Coast Conference) won their fourth straight game and beat Santa Clara for the 14th time in their past 16 meetings.

Emmett Naar added 15 points and nine assists for Saint Mary's, which led 53-37 with 10 minutes left before the Broncos rallied within 55-50 with six minutes remaining. The Gaels never panicked and made 11 of 12 free throws in the final five minutes to secure the victory.

"On the road it's tough. You're going to go up 15 and they're always going to come back," Rahon said. "This year, we're a year older, more mature and better able to handle it."

Nate Kratch led Santa Clara (12-11, 6-4) with 19 points, including 14 in the first half. Broncos senior Jared Brownridge, a 2,000-point career scorer and No. 4 this season in the WCC at 18.8 per game, made just one of his first 10 shots against defense by Rahon and finished with 13 points.

"That guy's really hard to guard," Bennett said of Brownridge, who entered with five straight 20-point games. "They bring him off so many screens. He's one of the best players that's played in this conference. But Joe is a really good defender. That was key."

Santa Clara's first-year coach Herb Sendek said Brownridge's 3-for-14 night was only partly caused by the Gaels' defensive work.

BIG PICTURE

Saint Mary's: The Gaels kept pace one game behind WCC leader Gonzaga and moved within one victory of 20 wins for a 10th straight season.

Santa Clara: After beating BYU two nights earlier, it remains alone in fourth place in the WCC after losing for just the second time in seven games.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Even with two victories this week, Saint Mary's figures to remain at or around its current spot at No. 21. The Gaels don't get another chance to make a major impression on Top 25 voters until their Feb. 11 home game against unbeaten Gonzaga.

Rahon said he didn't even know where the Gaels are ranked.

"We know if we get two wins every week we'll probably stay up there in the rankings," he said. "You drop one and people love to drop us out."

CASHING IN AT THE LINE

The Gaels made 16 of 20 free throws, with Naar making all four of his attempts to improve to 30 for 31 (96.8 percent) in WCC play.

AILING BRONCOS: Injuries have stalled the Broncos all season, and they played Saint Mary's with just eight healthy scholarship players because sophomore Matt Hauser, their third-leading scorer (10.2) was ill and could not play.

UP NEXT

Saint Mary's visits Pacific on Thursday. The Gaels led by as many as 19 points on the way to beating the Tigers 62-50 on Jan. 19 in Moraga.

Santa Clara plays Thursday at Portland. The Broncos beat the Pilots 70-42 on Jan. 5 at Santa Clara when Brownridge passed 2,000 points for his career.

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