No. 2 Gonzaga gets rematch with Saint Mary's for WCC title
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Joel Ayayi scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and No. 2 Gonzaga withstood a scare to beat San Francisco 81-77 on Monday night in the West Coast Conference Tournament semifinals.
The top-seeded Bulldogs (30-2) will play Saint Mary’s in Tuesday’s championship game after the Gaels edged No. 14 BYU in the second semifinal. Saint Mary's upset Gonzaga in last year's title game to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
It will be Gonzaga’s 23rd consecutive WCC final, and the school is seeking its 17th championship.
Killian Tillie had 19 points and Ryan Woolrdige scored 16 on 7-of-11 shooting to pace Gonzaga, which advanced to its 26th WCC title game overall.
Charles Minlend scored 19 points, one of four players in double figures for the sixth-seeded Dons (22-12). Khalil Shabazz had 17.
Ayayi broke a 69-all tie with 4:14 left with a jumper, and hit a mid-range shot on the following possession to give Gonzaga a 73-69 lead. The redshirt sophomore from France scored eight of Gonzaga’s nine points during a 9-3 run.
SAINT MARY'S 51, No. 14 BYU 50
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jordan Ford hit a pull-up jumper with 1.4 seconds left to lift Saint Mary’s over BYU at the West Coast Conference Tournament.
Ford scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half for the third-seeded Gaels (25-7), looking to win their fifth WCC title.
Yoeli Childs had 23 points and 10 rebounds for second-seeded BYU (24-8), which had won nine straight games.
