By SAM LANCE
Saint Mary’s is on top of the West Coast Conference once again. Led by sophomore guard Aidan Mahaney‘s 23 points, the Gaels secured a 69-60 win over Gonzaga to secure the WCC Tournament title and an automatic bid to the Big Dance.
This is the first time since 2011-12 that Saint Mary’s has won both the WCC regular season crown and tournament title.
Gonzaga had won 16 of last 20 WCC Tournaments dating back to 2004 coming into Tuesday night. This is the fourth time Saint Mary’s has taken down Gonzaga in the WCC title game and the Gaels’ fifth WCC title in school history. Saint Mary’s last won the tournament in 2019 before the win on Tuesday.
In total, Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s have played each other in the title game 14 times since 2007.
Besides Mahaney’s 23 points, the Gaels received contributions from center Mitchell Saxen (19 points, 15 rebounds) and guard Augustas Marciulionis (13 points, 8 assists). Saint Mary’s dominated several areas of the game including having an 39-22 rebound advantage and holding Gonzaga to just 2-of-11 shooting from 3-point range.
Saint Mary’s spurted off on a 17-8 run over the final eight minutes to secure the win.
As for Gonzaga, the Bulldogs shouldn’t be sweating about receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Joe Lunardi has Gonzaga as No. 6-seed in his most recent bracket. Saint Mary’s was a projected No. 7-seed and now obviously safely in the field.
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