Gonzaga holds off Gaels

SPOKANE (AP) - Kelly Olynyk scored 31 points and No. 9 Gonzaga held off Saint Mary's 83-78 on Thursday night in the latest installment of one of the best rivalries on the West Coast.

Kevin Pangos added 22 points for Gonzaga (16-1, 3-0 West Coast Conference), which has won seven straight since losing at home to Illinois. It was Olynyk's second consecutive 30-point game.

Stephen Holt led Saint Mary's (12-4, 1-1) with 23 points.

Gonzaga led by 20 early in the second half but had to stave off a furious rally by the Gaels.

Holt hit three baskets and two free throws in a 90-second span to cut Gonzaga's lead to 55-44 with 13:27 left. Two more buckets by Holt and two by Kyle Rowley made it 59-53, as the Bulldogs suddenly couldn't find the basket.

After a flurry of baskets that trimmed Gonzaga's lead to three at one point, Olynyk's layup put the Zags ahead 76-69 with 3:32 left.

Matthew Dellavedova's 3-pointer cut Gonzaga's lead to 79-76 with 1:15 to go. Olynyk could not score on the other end, but Gonzaga got the ball back on a tie up with 49 seconds left.

Pangos missed with 26 seconds left and Dellavedova was fouled on the other end, making both to cut Gonzaga's lead to 79-78 with 15 seconds left.

Olynyk was fouled on the inbounds play and sank both free throws for an 81-78 lead.

Dellavedova missed a long 3-point attempt with 6.9 seconds left, and the Gaels were forced to foul. Pangos hit two free throws to seal it.

In the first half, Saint Mary's made only one of its first nine shots to fall behind 9-2. The Gaels fought back to trail by five points, but an 8-2 run gave the Zags a 35-24 lead.

Dellavedova sank a 3-pointer, but after that Saint Mary's made only one field goal in the final 5 minutes of the first half and Gonzaga closed with an 11-1 run to take a 46-28 halftime lead. Olynyk had 17 first-half points (on 8-of-10 shooting) for Gonzaga, which shot 58 percent while holding the Gaels to 31 percent (9 of 29).

Saint Mary's has emerged in recent years as the strongest challenger to Gonzaga's dominance of the WCC. Last season, the Gaels beat the Zags to capture both the WCC regular season and tournament titles. The Gaels had won four of their previous seven games against Gonzaga.

Gonzaga is 113-8 in the McCarthey Athletic Center since it opened in 2004.

SAINT MARY'S (CAL) (12-4)

Waldow 5-8 2-6 12, Young 2-6 3-4 7, Page 0-3 0-0 0, Dellavedova 4-15 4-4 14, Holt 9-14 2-4 23, Rowley 3-4 0-1 6, Giusti 0-0 0-0 0, Levesque 5-7 2-2 14, Hodgson 0-1 0-0 0, Walker III 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 28-61 15-23 78.

GONZAGA (16-1)

Edi 0-0 0-0 0, Olynyk 11-19 9-12 31, Harris 6-11 1-1 13, Pangos 8-12 3-3 22, Bell, Jr. 1-5 0-0 3, Stockton 0-4 0-0 0, Karnowski 2-2 0-0 4, Hart 0-0 2-2 2, Dower 4-6 0-0 8. Totals 32-59 15-18 83.

Halftime_Gonzaga 46-28. 3-Point Goals_Saint Mary's (Cal) 7-27 (Holt 3-8, Levesque 2-4, Dellavedova 2-9, Young 0-1, Walker III 0-2, Page 0-3), Gonzaga 4-14 (Pangos 3-5, Bell, Jr. 1-4, Harris 0-1, Olynyk 0-1, Dower 0-1, Stockton 0-2). Fouled Out_Levesque. Rebounds_Saint Mary's (Cal) 39 (Waldow, Young 7), Gonzaga 27 (Olynyk 8). Assists_Saint Mary's (Cal) 10 (Dellavedova 3), Gonzaga 13 (Stockton 7). Total Fouls_Saint Mary's (Cal) 18, Gonzaga 17. A_6,000.