Gonzaga Bulldogs rout Western Michigan Broncos 78-58 – NCAA Basketball
Gonzaga Bulldogs defeated Western Michigan Broncos 78-58 on Saturday night at the Spokane Arena.
The two centres, Robert Sacre and Sam Dower, each scored 15 points and clutched six rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Gonzaga dominated the Broncos with their brilliant field goal shooting. The Bulldogs hit 52 percent of their field goals, while Western Michigan shot just 41 percent in the entire game.
"All we've got to do is win," said guard Mike Hart, who had six points and seven rebounds for Gonzaga. "We may not be the prettiest, but we don't have to be good looking."
Mike Hart put the first points on board for Gonzaga by making a layup to start a period of early dominance that resulted in a12-4 advantage. Marquise Carter led the rally for the Bulldogs with four points.
The Broncos struggled to find the rim in the first half and that ensured that the Bulldogs continued to ride high. They kept on pounding the Broncos and pushed their lead to double figures (30-19) with the help of Carter’s successive
free throws.
With just seven minutes remaining in the first half, the Broncos fought back and bombarded the Bulldogs with an 11-0 run and came within the range at 30-28.
However, Robert Sacre and the Bulldogs recovered and capped the frame with six consecutive points to take a 36-28 lead.
Gonzaga the made some early possessions in the second half and gained the double-digit lead (41-28) once again.
When 12:20 minutes left in the game, Western Michigan coach Steve Hawkins took full timeout to halt the one way traffic, However, that didn’t work either for the Broncos, as Gonzaga kept creating inroads into their fragile defence
and increased their advantage to 65-43.
In the final six minute of the game, Sam Dower took over the charge and completely annihilated the Broncos. He punctuated eight points late in the game, guiding the Bulldogs to a 78-58 romp.
Western Michigan committed 22 turnovers that cost them 25 points.
Broncos’ coach Steve Hawkins termed it the major reason behind their defeat. "With a team as good as Gonzaga, our turnovers were the key."
For Western Michigan, centre Matt Stainbrook made 11 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the way.
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