Gonzaga basketball won the WCC tournament for the fifth year in a row by defeating the Saint Mary’s Gaels, 74-56, in the title game.
The Gonzaga basketball program has played in a ridiculous 20 straight WCC tournament finals.
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The victory over Saint Mary’s gives Gonzaga its fifth straight WCC tournament title and the Bulldogs’ 16th overall. This was the third meeting between the teams this year with Gonzaga winning every game.
The Gaels had the first lead of the game on a three-pointer but it would last just over a minute. The Bulldogs created what seemed like an insurmountable lead to end the half. They led by a score of 39-18 at the break.
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Saint Mary’s clawed back to start the second half and got the deficit to as low as five points halfway through the second. The Bulldogs were just too much to overcome, though, as they converted several and-one attempts late in the second.
Nigel Williams-Goss scored a game-high 22 points and Przemek Karnowski had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Williams-Goss was perfect from the line, going 10-of-10 and scored 20 points or more for the third straight game.
Jock Landale recorded 10 points, his third-lowest amount on the season, and five rebounds for the Gaels. Calvin Hermanson scored a team-high 14 points but the two just could not climb out of the early deficit. The Gaels shot 36.8 percent from the field but only got to the free-throw line seven times.
The Bulldogs shot 50.0 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from behind the arc. They converted on 80.0 percent of free throws and put the game away by converting 8-of-9 in the last 10 minutes. They got to the line a total of 20 times.
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Gonzaga will definitely compete for a No. 1 seed and should get it. They’ll be in their 19th straight NCAA Tournament. Saint Mary’s seeding will be up in the air but they will obvious be in the tournament after being left out last year.