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2012 WCC Basketball Tournament Championship: Gonzaga Can't Quite Best St. Mary's, Falls 78-74 In Overtime

The Gonzaga Bulldogs and St. Mary's Gaels played a high-paced and strong first half that led to both teams being tied at halftime. Elias Harris and Robert Sacre led the way for Gonzaga in the first half, but they were unable to defend the three pointer effectively and found themselves tied with St. Mary's at halftime.

Gonzaga fell behind after halftime as St. Mary's kept on riding hot shooting to stay in front, and Gonzaga had trouble stopping Matthew Dellavedova and Rob Jones from getting their buckets. Sam Dower came alive to assist Sacre and Harris to keep up, but St. Mary's still had a narrow 68-63 lead with about 30 seconds left.

After Gonzaga got a quick bucket from Harris, the Bulldogs managed to tie up Dellavedova and force a jump ball and get the ball back with the possession arrow pointing toward the Zags. Then Harris buried a triple to tie the game with a few seconds left, and Dellavedova's last second runner was long.

In overtime, both Gonzaga and St. Mary's traded baskets for much of the period, but with the game tied at 72, Kevin Pangos banged Dellavedova on a scramble, forcing Matthew to the free throw line where he put St. Mary's up for good. St. Mary's hit their free throws the rest of the way.

St. Mary's earns the automatic bid from the WCC (they were already likely to win an at-large bid), pairing it up with a regular season conference title.

To discuss Gonzaga basketball, check out The Slipper Still Fits.