NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Jock Landale had 26 points and 12 rebounds, and Saint Mary’s beat No. 13 Gonzaga 74-71 on Thursday to take sole possession of first place in the West Coast Conference.
Rui Hachimura came off the bench to score 23 points for Gonzaga (16-4, 6-1 WCC), which suffered a rare home loss.
Calvin Hermanson added 16 points for the Gaels (18-2, 7-0), who won their 13th straight.
Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s have won the past nine WCC tournament titles, with Gonzagaclaiming seven. The Gaels were the preseason pick by league coaches to win the conference this season.
Leading by four at halftime, Gonzaga outscored the Gaels 8-3 to open the second half and push their lead to 50-41.
Saint Mary’s came back and Landale’s basket tied the score at 63 with seven minutes left. Landale scored again to put the Gaels up 65-63.
After Josh Perkins sank three free throws to put the Bulldogs ahead, Landale’s basket tied it at 68.
Calvin Hermanson’s layup put the Gaels up 70-68 with 2:45 left. Hachimura’s basket tied it again.
Landale’s layup put Saint Mary’s up 72-70 with 1:06 left.
Zach Norvell Jr. hit a free throw for Gonzaga with 41 seconds left to cut Saint Mary’s lead to one, and then Landale broke free and scored on a layup with 15 seconds left that turned out to be the game’s final points. Hachimura missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
BIG PICTURE
Saint Mary’s: The Gaels lead the nation in field goal shooting at 52.4 percent, and are receiving votes in The Associated Press Top 25. They host the Bulldogs on Feb. 10. Landale came in averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Gonzaga: All five Gonzaga starters average in double figures, as does Hachimura. The Zags are fourth in the nation with an average of 89.8 points per game and had been winning league games by an average of 31 points.
UP NEXT
Saint Mary’s: At Pacific on Saturday.
Gonzaga: At Santa Clara on Saturday.
___
More AP college basketball: https://collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
