EDs: Santa Clara 70, Saint Mary's 52. Optional
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -John Bryant stormed the student section of the audience to hand out high-fives after scoring 21 points and grabbing 15 rebounds Saturday night as Santa Clara beat Bay Area rival Saint Mary's, 70-52.
The 6-foot-11 senior center recorded his 19th double-double of the season. He moved past former Broncos and current Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis into second place on the school's all-time rebounding list. He has 1,042 for his career.
Freshman Kevin Foster added 26 points for the Broncos (13-13, 5-4 WCC), who won their season-best sixth straight.
Bryant and Foster shot a combined 74 percent (17-of-23) for the Broncos. Foster made four of five 3-pointers.
Santa Clara took the lead for good late in the first half as the Gaels struggled from the field, shooting less than 36 percent. The Broncos shot 58.5 percent.
Bryant hit a tough inside basket and was fouled with 7:22 remaining to play. Usually reserved on the court, he flung his arms through the air several times and then hit a free throw to put the Broncos up 54-41, their biggest lead of the night to that point.
The Gaels, who were playing without leading scorer Patrick Mills, lost their third in four games since a 15-game winning streak had them ranked 22nd nationally.
Diamon Simpson scored 11 points for the Gaels (19-4, 6-3), who were held to a season-low in points.
Simpson grabbed a pair of rebounds and has 993 for his career. He's trying to become the first player in school history to reach 1,000.
Wayne Hunter, Omar Samhan and Lucas Walker each added 10. Samhan also had 15 rebounds, nine on the offensive boards, for his ninth double-double.
