Santa Clara loses exhibition contest 69-68

By Ryan Donough

Kerry Keating's head coaching tenure at Santa Clara began with a 69-68 exhibition loss to a Division II school.

The Broncos dropped the 1-point contest against Cal State Stanislaus after the Warriors' Duane Jones made two free throws with a minute remaining.

Santa Clara had the opportunity to win the game on a steal by junior guard Calvin Johnson with 17 seconds left. After a timeout, Senior Brody Angley was unable to connect with junior center John Bryant in the waning seconds of the game. The pass underneath the basket to Bryant was deflected towards mid-court by Stanislaus, and the Warriors would run out the clock for the victory.

The win marked the first time Cal State Stanislaus won over a Division I school since the 2005-2006 season against UC Irvine.

The Broncos had trouble finding their shooting touch early, shooting just 32 percent in the first half and headed into halftime trailing the Warriors 35-25.

Santa Clara would claw its way back into the game, as an early 11-3 run to pulled them within two points just three minutes into the second half.

Stanislaus answered back with contributions from Rick Cardoso who led the way with 16 points and Duane Jones who contributed 12 to keep the game close throughout the second half. There were nine lead changes and six ties in the second half.

Keating believes that Santa Clara beat itself tonight.

"Making free throws, blocking out, communicating on defense- I mean I could come up with a hundred of them," Keating said about the Bronco mistakes.

Despite coming up just short of the win, Santa Clara saw impressive play from three key returning players. Bryant scored 25 point and grabbed 7 rebounds. Angley contributed 11 of his own while dishing out 5 assists. Senior Mitch Henke shot 60 percent from behind the arc and added 15 points in the loss.

"The mistakes we make in practice carry over to the game," Keating said. "Some of the responsibility falls on me to do a better job of teaching them that."

Santa Clara opens the regular season at home Friday against Cal State Monterey Bay.