WCAC Roundup : St. Mary’s Gets an 18-0 Start, Finishes Off Portland, 63-41

St. Mary’s, ranked 19th in the nation, scored the first 18 points and allowed only 15 points in the first half to trounce the University of Portland, 63-41, Saturday night in a West Coast Athletic Conference game at Portland, Ore.

Robert Haugen scored 20 points for the Gaels (24-3 overall, 12-2 in the WCAC), who clinched the conference championship Friday night. Portland (2-25, 2-12) will play St. Mary’s again next weekend in the first round of the WCAC tournament at USF.

The Gaels, second among major college teams in scoring defense, at 57.2 points a game, shut out Portland for nearly seven minutes. The Pilots broke their spell at 13:02 on Bart Koenitzer’s jump shot.

St. Mary’s led, 30-15, at halftime, as the Pilots hit just six of 23 shots in the first 20 minutes. The Gaels did not commit a foul until two seconds before halftime.

Gonzaga 88, U. San Diego 71--Gonzaga scored the game’s first 11 points en route to its victory at Spokane, Wash.

Gonzaga (14-13, 5-9) led by as many as 15 in the first half, 37-22, and 17 in the secnd half at 54-37 before USD trimmed it to 64-59. Gonzaga then pulled away with 10 consecutive points.

Kevin Means led USD (7-19, 2-12) with 22 points, including six three-pointers. Mike Winger scored 22 points for Gonzaga.