Broncos Fall Short in Bay Area Battle
Center Christoph Tilly pushes past center Carlton Linguard Jr. to tie up the score in the first half.
Photo by Dylan Ryu
The Santa Clara Broncos lost a hard-fought overtime contest to the San Francisco Dons 97-94 on Monday night, despite five Broncos scoring in double figures.
Christoph Tilly ’26 and Johnny O’Neil ’25 paced Santa Clara with 20 points each, with O'Neil securing his second double-double of the season by adding 10 rebounds. The Broncos led by as many as 10 in the first half and shot 50.8% from the field but couldn't hold off a late Dons surge.
“Our guys played a really good basketball game,” Broncos head coach Herb Sendek said. “We had opportunities, even in overtime, and just weren't able to finish the game with enough plays to get the win.”
Carlos Stewart ’25 recorded 13 points, a career-high eight rebounds and six assists, while Tyeree Bryan ’25 matched Stewart's 13 points, marking his seventh straight game in double figures. Adama-alpha Bal ’25 added 11 points, his fourth consecutive game scoring in double digits.
The Broncos held an 86-83 lead with under 30 seconds remaining in regulation, but San Francisco's Malik Thomas drew a foul on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws to force overtime. Thomas finished with 34 points for the Dons.
Santa Clara had a chance to win in regulation when Tilly was fouled with two seconds remaining but missed the front end of a one-and-one. In overtime, the Broncos took a 91-89 lead on a Tilly layup before the Dons responded with a decisive 5-0 run.
The loss broke Santa Clara’s six-game winning streak, during which they had averaged over 10 3-pointers per game. The Broncos maintained that shooting Monday, connecting on 11 shots from beyond the arc in their eighth straight game with 10 or more 3-pointers.
Marcus Williams added 23 points and eight assists for San Francisco, while Carlton Linguard Jr. and Tyrone Riley IV contributed 11 points each.
The Broncos will look to bounce back in their next conference matchup when they return home to the Leavey Center. Santa Clara won seven of their previous eight games before Monday’s setback.
This marked the 236th meeting between the Bay Area rivals, with San Francisco now holding a narrow 120-116 edge in the all-time series.