Experiencing Santa Clara vs USF

The 232nd edition of a storied rivalry between the Santa Clara Broncos and the University of San Francisco Dons took place on Saturday night at the War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco. The season series was on the line in the Battle of the Bay. 

In front of a sold out crowd at USF, the Broncos and Dons fought not only for rival supremacy, but also to keep their postseason at-large hopes alive. The energy throughout the building was palpable as the audience prepared for tip-off. 

To the shock of many in attendance, the electric atmosphere was coming from a road army of Santa Clara fans. The red and white mass of students and alumni behind the Bronco bench screamed impassioned chants of “Defense!” A giant SCU flag emblazoned with the letter logo was carried behind the bench. Fans made their presence known with loud vigor as the SCU starting lineup was introduced. They had come together for a pregame tailgate at USF and hustled over to the gym just in time for tipoff, using Bronco-branded noisemakers to amplify their jeers and cheers. 

That liveliness emboldened sophomore Carlos Stewart, who scored 10 points in the first four minutes of action to give Santa Clara an early 12-7 lead. 

After some back and forth, it was the underclassmen Camaron Tongue and Christoph Tilly who gave head coach Herb Sendek sublime minutes off the bench, taking advantage of the limited time they get and making the most of it with extended minutes. With solid defense in the paint, rebounding and hustling, the lead ballooned to 26-13 in favor of Santa Clara. In the middle of that run, Tongue had a hellacious “and-one” dunk courtesy of a backdoor cut and dish from Brandin Podziemski.

USF fans were beside themselves, but the Dons fought back with a combined 3 three-pointers from Khalil Shabazz and Tyrell Roberts, cutting down the deficit to 26-22.

The game had stabilized by halftime as Santa Clara eked out a 39-30 lead thanks to USF’s inconsistent free throw shooting. 

Retroactive to the six minute mark of the first half, Santa Clara’s Parker Braun was assessed a flagrant foul when he made unnecessary contact with a USF player. The rarity of a retroactive foul confused the crowd, and the referee’s ruling gave USF two unexpected extra points before the second half started.

The good times didn’t stop there. The Broncos’ two-point defense was stifling with Jaden Bediako, Tilly, Tongue, and Braun all giving the Dons fits. A thunderous “and-one” from Bediako put the Broncos up 13, and the road crowd went into a frenzy. Couple that with the emergence of Podziemski after a quiet first half and the Broncos were stampeding ahead.

The lead expanded to 64-47 for the Broncos before a 6-0 run by the Dons forced a Santa Clara timeout with 10 minutes to go. The home crowd had finally awoken and the USF students caused a ruckus in the stands. Neither fanbase wanted to go home as losers.

Three-pointers from Keshawn Justice, Stewart and Podziemski were clutch in the home stretch as the Broncos and their fans could feel victory inching closer. Santa Clara was rebounding well and aside from Shabazz, no other USF players posed challenges for SCU’s defense. 

After a Podziemski dunk sealed a dominating victory for Santa Clara, departing USF fans were jeered out to the hook of "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye." The final score came to 84-70 in favor of Santa Clara–the first Bronco win at War Memorial since 2018. It was wire to wire domination from the opening tip, a signal for what the Broncos can be as the postseason approaches.

“This is the momentum we needed going into February,” said Bediako. “All the guys played hard. Cam’s dunk. Tilly gave good minutes. Roleplayers, starters, this is what we need.” 

The Broncos will face the University of San Diego Toreros on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and the Loyola Marymount Lions on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.