Gaels Are West Coast Conference Champs! Saint Mary’s Defeats Gonzaga 70–59 to Clinch Fourth Straight WCC Title

For the fourth straight season, the Saint Mary’s Gaels are West Coast Conference Regular Season Champions. In a packed and raucous UCU Pavilion where the roar of the crowd just about blew the roof off the place, the Gaels defeated rival Gonzaga in their final regular season meeting as West Coast Conference foes, 70–59, to lock up the share of the conference crown—which tonight’s foes share. The win over the Zags, ranked No. 9 in the country, also marked the Gaels’ first win over a top-10 opponent since their win over top-ranked Gonzaga in 2022. 

Basketball analysts were calling this one of the top games in the country to see this week. ESPN put together a special feature on Head Coach Randy Bennett and the Gaels for “Game Day.” And the eyes of history were on Moraga as well: This would be the last time that Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga would meet as WCC foes. Next year the Zags depart for the Pac-12. What could be better than a storybook ending? That the Gaels delivered.

Mikey Lewis smashed his career-high for scoring, dropping 31 points in an epic performance. Lewis buried a career-best seven threes on 13 attempts, while adding five rebounds and four assists to power the Gaels past the Zags. Joshua Dent and Mantas Juzanas added 14 and 12 respectively, each connecting on four of six perimeter attempts. While the offense was special, it was the Gaels’ defense that reigned supreme, becoming the first team to hold Gonzaga under 60 points this season. 

A Tale of Two Halves

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As the battle was joined, things started off going Gonzaga’s way. The Gaels (27–4, 16–2 WCC) put together a strong three point shooting performance in the first half in order to hang t

ough with the Zags (28–3, 16–2 WCC). Overall, though, Saint Mary’s struggled to score, hitting only 29.4% of shots; meanwhile, Gonzaga connected 48.3% of the time. 

It was the threes that kept the Gaels in the game. Mantas Juzenas made a massive contribution off of the bench, canning four first half triples, while Mikey Lewis drained two and Dent buried one. Gonzaga held a seven point lead at the break, 36–29, but a Juzenas three with 49 seconds remaining gave the Gaels momentum as the teams headed for the locker rooms. 

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Cue the come-from-behind victory. From down seven to up six in the blink of an eye, Saint Mary’s opened the second half on a 15–2 run over the first 5:35. Gonzaga responded to level things up with 11 minutes left, but another long Gael run, this time at 12–2, gave them a lead they would not relinquish. Mikey Lewis and Joshua Dent combined for eight second half threes in the offensive outpouring. 

Throughout the half, the Gael defense continued to shine, limiting the Zags to just 23 second half points. Zoom in on the Zags’ top scorer for the game, Graham Ike: He led with 13 in the first half; in the second half, the big men for the Gaels guarding him executed better, and he only managed four points. That, and he fouled out of the game with four minutes to go. 

Then there were the Gaels fans: Starting with a three Mikey Lewis hit from the corner, the crowd took the volume up to 11—one of those factors that make Moraga such a formidable place for opponents. When the final buzzer sounded, the Gaels finished with a double-digit win against the Zags, their first since 2022, and their largest margin of victory since 2019. 

Back to Back to Back to Back Champs

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The Gaels have now won at least a share of the WCC Regular Season Title in four consecutive years. That’s a first in program history. 

On the stifling Gaels defense side of things: Saint Mary’s became the first team to limit Gonzaga to less than 60 points scoring this year. In the last three years, Saint Mary’s is the only team to hold Gonzaga to sub-60 points in a game, doing so three times in that span. 

On the points to win the game side of things: Not for the first time, it was the Mikey Lewis show against the Zags. The sophomore scored a career-high 31, burying a career-best 10 shots and seven threes. In the Gaels’ three wins over Gonzaga in Lewis’ time in Moraga, he is averaging an impressive 21.7 points per contest. Lewis has now scored in double-figures in eight straight, a new career-high. His seven made threes were the most by a Gael since Alex Ducas knocked down seven against Santa Clara in the 2024 WCC Semifinals. 

“That was exhilarating,” Lewis said of the atmosphere Gaels fans brought to the game and the way the team delivered. “Obviously, winning makes it so much better. But that was some of the most fun I’ve ever had playing basketball, for sure.”

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For the 12th time this season, Joshua Dent played the full 40 minutes, scoring 14 points and knocking down four of six triples. He also gave a shout-out to the fans in the stands after the game. “When Mikey hit that corner three, I thought my ears were about to start bleeding,” Dent said. And he spoke to the community that makes Saint Mary’s basketball so special. “They’re gonna be in it just as much as we are. And when we start making threes and going on our little runs, that place is a jungle.”

Mantas Juzenas scored in double figures for the second time this season, dropping a career best 12 on a career-high four made threes. That breakout performance actually wouldn’t surprise you, Mikey Lewis noted after the game, if you had seen how he played in his native Lithuania before coming to Saint Mary’s. Call this another signature Saint Mary’s element: Gaels take turns coming through in the clutch.

With the win over the Zags, Saint Mary’s has won 26 in a row at home—one of the top home winning streaks in college basketball. On the year, Saint Mary’s logged 27 wins. That’s the ninth time Saint Mary’s has achieved that feat—all coming under the tutelage of Randy Bennett, who is wrapping up his 25th season with the Gaels. 

Storybook Momentum

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Randy Bennett has gone on the record as saying how hard the conference titles are to earn; it’s the work of an entire season. “The momentum for this game was kind of storybook,” he said afterward. “We had to get all those wins to get this thing down, the last game for the championship at our place in that atmosphere.”

Bennett also amplified the role of a couple of players who didn’t do much in terms of scoring but were fundamental to the win. Center Harry Wessels had seven rebounds. And freshman Dillan Shaw had 10. He’s also, in Bennett’s estimation, the best perimeter defender on the Gaels. And they needed that against Gonzaga.

As the decades-long WCC rivalry between Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s comes to a close, Bennett also gave props to the Zags’ coach, Mark Few, whom he considers a friend. This time around, Saint Mary’s won the war of attrition. It was also a season in which Gonzaga had to contend with some injuries. “I just told him, I think this is one of your best coaching jobs, and your guys got to get healthy,” Bennett recounted. “And see you in Vegas.”

WCC Player of the Week—and No. 21 in the Country

Monday morning brought exciting news for Gaels Basketball. After his stellar, game-winning performance against Gonzaga, Mikey Lewis was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week.

And in college basketball rankings, Saint Mary’s stepped into the top echelons of teams in the country: In both the latest Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls, the Gaels are ranked No. 21 in the country.

Up Next: West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas

With the win over Gonzaga, the Gaels earn a No. 2 seed in the Credit Union One West Coast Conference Basketball Championship. Saint Mary’s will play on Monday, March 8, in the semifinals. Get tickets and cheer on the the Gaels in Orleans Arena—and watch on ESPN2.