In what would prove to be a perfect ending to a longtime conference rivalry with Gonzaga and a nearly perfect regular season, Saint Mary’s defeated Gonzaga 70-59 on Feb. 28, giving them their championship or co-championship in the West Coast Conference. 

    In front of a deafening sold-out crowd that left many fans outside looking for tickets, the Gaels concluded their season and their in-league rivalry with Gonzaga, giving their fans the added joy of watching the players and coaches cut down the net after the game. Saint Mary’s with an overall 27-4 record and 16-2 in league, not only took the title, but the victory over ninth ranked Gonzaga moved the Gaels up to 21st in the AP and USA Today Coaches polls. 

    It was a game that required all of Coach Randy Bennett’s acumen to bring about the win. In the first half, Gonzaga shot 48.3% from the field with Saint Mary’s shooting a paltry 29.4% but the Gaels only trailed 36-29 at the half. Bennett made a key substitution in the first half bringing in freshman Mantas Juzenas for Paulius Murauskas, who was having an uncharacteristically poor shooting night. Juzenas, who averaged 5 minutes playing time  scoring 1.7 points a game, hit four of six 3-point shots, without which Gonzaga might have had an insurmountable lead at the half.
    
    “Manta’s ability to shoot was no surprise to us,”  Joshua Dent said. “He gave us enough to keep the game close and when it was time to make our push, we were able to do that.”

    Murauskas came back in the second half and returned to form. “Paulius’ attitude and leadership this year are the stuff you have to have in games like this one," Bennett said after the game. "A lot of the three’s Mikey (Lewis) made came right out of Paulius’ hands when they double teamed him.”

    Senior center Harry Wessels, playing his last home game, had his hands full covering Gonzaga’s all-American center, Graham Ike, who scored 13 points in the first half. However, Bennett acknowledged Wessels picking up his game, only allowing Ike 4 points in the second half before Ike fouled out. “We did a better job in covering him and attrition takes place in our gym. It’s hot in there and you have to be emotionally stable the whole way and we wore him down a little.”

    Coming into the game, Gonzaga had been averaging 86 points a game. This was the only time this season that Gonzaga was held to under 60 points. The backcourt of Joshua Dent and Mikey Lewis, who were on the court together for 96% of the game became an unstoppable force. Lewis set career highs with 31 points and seven 3-pointers, along with four assists. Dent ran the offense all evening, hit four three pointers and finished with 14 points.
    “Mikey’s been a great story and we have a lot of them and that’s why we’re 27-4,” Bennett said. “He had a stellar start to the season and then had a foot that began bothering him. He struggled for a while and wasn’t the same Mikey but he kept fighting and didn’t get down. He was super coachable in practice and his attitude got him through it as he began coming on.”

    Lewis and Dent have been roommates since their freshman year and that relationship helped Lewis return to form from his mid-season let down. “I just stayed working and it helped that I had Josh by my side all the time even when I was shooting it badly, and he still kept finding me and he made sure I never lost my confidence.”

    Dent saw the effort that Lewis was putting in. “No one worked harder than Mikey. He was always in the gym shooting extra reps. We’ve been pretty inseparable, plus I like to pass and Mikey likes to shoot so it works out pretty well.”

    There was no panic among the players at half time. “We knew what we needed to do and we pride ourselves on coming out in the second half,” Dent said. “We’ve been able to jump teams early and make it hard to stay with us. When Mikey hit his corner three, I thought my ears were about to start bleeding from the crowd noise. What was really special was just looking into the crowd and knowing that even if we did not go on a run, they would still be there and be in it as much as we were.”

    Another player that played a quietly efficient game as he has done all season was freshman Dillan Shaw who became a starter at forward in the 11th game of the season. For the season, Shaw connected on 44% of his 3-point attempts, was third on the team in rebounds, led the team in steals and was second in blocked shots. Against Gonzaga, Shaw did not score but in 36 minutes, he led the team with 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals.

    “Even though he’s just a freshman, Dillan is another one of our cool stories,” Bennett said. “He’s probably our best perimeter defender and a really good competitor with good composure and confidence, never getting rattled. He’s gotten better and better and despite not scoring, we really needed him tonight.”

    For Lewis, there was a lot of family joy. “My dad is tough as nails, and everybody knows it and calls him Big Mike. However, after the game, he had little tears running down his cheeks and I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.”

    For Bennett, it was a victory that had a lot of ramifications. Besides earning their fourth straight WCC title, for the first time in program history, they extended their home winning streak to 26 and it was their final WCC win over Gonzaga since it is leaving the WCC at the end of this school year. “Winning the conference championship was a big deal and it was just as important to us whether we won it outright or shared it. This was a big week for us starting with our beating Santa Clara which sealed our upcoming league tournament spot in the semifinals.” 

    Bennett has always appreciated the Gonzaga rivalry and the way that it developed from when he began at Saint Mary’s 25 years ago. “It wasn’t until my fourth year when I first beat them. After that we began chipping away, always playing in close games and we just kept coming and it became the big rivalry over the years. [Gonzaga’s head coach] Mark Few and I are friends and there’s never been any animosity there. They’ve won more games than anybody in college basketball during the last 25 years and we’re about fifth in the last 20 years. If you can be a part of that history, including tonight’s game, it’s special and it’s hard to get those games.”

    The performance of Coach Bennett and the team did not go unnoticed: Bennett was named a finalist for the Jim Phelan and Hugh Durham Coach of the Year.

    Paulius Murauskis, Mikey Lewis and Joshua Dent were chosen first team all WCC and Dillan Shaw was named to the WCC all-Freshman team.

    Dent was also named first team all-academic and Harry Wessels was named honorable mention all-academic.