MORAGA — Harry Wessels, in the game because starting center Mitchell Saxen fouled out, made two free throws with 50.4 seconds left and blocked a shot 20 seconds later as Saint Mary’s held off Gonzaga 62-58 on Saturday night to remain undefeated in the West Coast Conference.
The Gaels (20-3, 10-0) won their 10th straight game and now own a 3-game lead in the loss column on the Zags (16-7, 7-3) and USF.
Jordan Ross clinched the victory by making two free throws with 0.7 seconds left after Gonzaga’s Graham Ike missed a potential game-tying shot with 4 seconds left as a capacity crowd went wild.
Freshman Mikey Lewis delivered a huge performance for the Gaels, scoring 16 points, 10 of them in the second half, and forward Paulius Murauskas had 12 points and eight rebounds.
Ike scored 24 points for the Zags and point guard Ryan Nembhard had 11 points and 12 assists while playing all 40 minutes.
The Zags scored the first seven points of the second half to erase much of a 36-28 deficit at the break. Nembhard had three assists during that 2-minute burst to trigger the Gonzaga offense.
The visitors took their first lead of the night on a post move by Ike for a 39-38 edge with 16:11 left.
Meanwhile, the Gaels began to develop serious foul trouble. Center Mitchell Saxen was hit with his third foul at 18:14 and point guard Augustas Marciulionis collected No. 4 on an offensive foul with 12:59 left and went to the bench for 4 1/2 minutes.
But the score was even at 49-all after a floater by Lewis with 8:46 left and the freshman guard pushed the Gaels into a 53-50 lead when he made a jumper with 5:17 to play.
When Lewis took a pass from Marciulionis and nailed his fourth 3-pointer of the night, the Gaels led 56-51 with 4:44 left.
Saxen, who had nine points and 11 rebounds, fouled out 22 seconds later but the Gaels continued to weather the storm.
Lewis missed a wide-open 3-pointer from the right corner with 1:38 left but Murauskas converted the putback for a 58-55 lead.
That lasted until Nembhard drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:18 left, knotting the score at 58-all.
Saint Mary’s led 36-28 at halftime, but the margin could have been bigger. The Gaels, who shot 70 percent from the free throw line, converted just 5 of 15 foul shots over the first 20 minutes.
They were much better from the field, making 11 of their first 16 attempts (including 6 of 8 from the 3-point arc) to forge a 14-point lead with less than 8 minutes left in the half.
Murauskas buried a 3-pointer with 7:41 left, capping a 10-0 run that propelled Saint Mary’s to a 32-18 lead.
The Gaels then went nearly 5 minutes without scoring, enabling the Zags to chisel the deficit to 32-24. A 3-pointer by Luke Barrett with 3:17 left ended the drought.
Saint Mary’s never trailed in the first half and wound up at 50 percent for the period. Murauskas scored 10 points and Marciulionis had eight points and seven assists. Ike scored 10 points in the half for the Zags, who had their own issues at the free throw line, missing all three attempts.
Next up for the Gaels is a Thursday night rematch at USF.
