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It’s Santa Clara vs. Gonzaga

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From the Associated Press

David Pendergraft had 22 points and Gonzaga moved closer to an automatic NCAA tournament berth with an 88-70 victory over San Diego in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament at Portland, Ore., on Sunday night.

Top-seeded Gonzaga (22-10) will face second-seeded Santa Clara in tonight’s final for the automatic berth.

Derek Raivio had 14 points for Gonzaga, and Micah Downs had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Ross DeRogatis, San Diego’s senior point guard, had 17 points. Gonzaga led, 40-26, at halftime.

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Pendergraft made consecutive three-point shots midway through the second half to give the Bulldogs a 64-46 lead. But San Diego (18-13) answered with a 7-0 run that narrowed it to 64-53. It was as close as the Toreros would get.

Santa Clara 63, St. Mary’s 47 -- The second-seeded Broncos (21-9) beat the third-seeded Gaels (17-15) for the third time this season by finishing the game on a 22-8 run after leading by only two points with 11:28 left.

John Bryant had 14 points for Santa Clara. Brett Collins scored 13 points for St. Mary’s.Tempers flared after Collins slammed into Santa Clara’s Scott Dougherty on a late layup attempt. Collins was ejected.

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