National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
St. Mary's 78, Gonzaga 74
When: 9:00 PM ET, Monday, March 5, 2012
Where: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials: # Michael Reed, # Dick Cartmell, # Michael Greenspan
Attendance: 6826
Saint Mary's 78, Gonzaga 74: Matthew Dellavedova scored 22 points and hit the go-ahead free throws in overtime as the No. 18 Gaels defeated the No. 25 Bulldogs in the West Coast Conference tournament final.

Rob Jones had 18 points and nine rebounds, Jorden Page had 16 points and Brad Waldow added 13 as top-seeded Saint Mary’s (27-5) qualified for the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in eight seasons.

Elias Harris had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Robert Sacre had 17 points for second-seeded Gonzaga (25-6), which was playing in the WCC title game for the 15th straight season.

Dellavedova’s two free throws with 39.3 seconds left in overtime broke a 72-72 tie. He clinched the game by hitting two more free throws with six seconds left.

Saint Mary’s appeared to have the game won late in regulation but Harris second five points in the final 15 seconds to tie it at 68-68. Harris hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds remaining.

The Gaels led by as many as eight points in the second half before Gonzaga’s rally.

Sam Dower added 14 points for the Bulldogs.

Harris had 11 first-half points and Gonzaga led by eight points late in the stanza before Saint Mary’s got back-to-back 3-pointers by Dellavedova and Beau Levesque to tie it 36-36 at intermission.

Saint Mary’s started the second half with a 10-2 run to take a 46-38 on a three-point play by Jones.

Monday’s title game marked the fourth straight season in which Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga met in the championship game. Each has won twice.

Game Notebook: Gonzaga sharpshooter Kevin Pangos had just seven points and was just 3 of 18 from the field and 1 of 10 from 3-point range. … Dellavedova hit two 3-pointers to raise his career total to 201, becoming the second player in Saint Mary’s history with more than 200. … Gonzaga is a lock to make the NCAA tournament as an at-large team and will be making its 14th consecutive appearance. … The Gaels missed the NCAA tournament last season but advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2010 before losing to Baylor.
Top Game Performances
 
Gonzaga   St. Mary's
Elias Harris 22 Scoring Matthew Dellavedova 22
David Stockton 4 Assists Matthew Dellavedova 4
Elias Harris 13 Rebounds Rob Jones 9
Robert Sacre 5 Free Throws Made Rob Jones 5
Elias Harris 2 Steals Rob Jones 3
Robert Sacre 3 Blocks Brad Waldow 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Gonzaga 74 43.5 5-22 9-11 14 33 4 8 8
St. Mary's 78 44.4 8-23 14-20 10 37 1 5 12