Unexpected contribution from Wessels helps Saint Mary’s men knock off Gonzaga

MORAGA — While making the short drive from home to campus on Saturday afternoon, Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett was tickled by a sense of anticipation for the Gaels’ matchup against Gonzaga.

“I was excited for this game because I knew the level it was at,” he said.

Bennett was even more excited after the Gaels had completed a 62-58 victory over the Zags in front of a sellout throng of 3,500 at University Credit Union Pavilion.

Now 20-3 overall, Saint Mary’s more importantly is 10-0 in the West Coast Conference and owns a three-game lead in the loss column over the rest of the league. No other Division I team in the country can make that claim.

“This win was big,” Bennett said. “They have been the standard for so long and still are nationally. That’s who we have to go through to win this league.

“To get the one at home is huge. We couldn’t do it last year. We went 15-1 at home and couldn’t get that one.”

Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga (16-7, 7-3) have mostly ruled the WCC, securing the top two spots in the conference in 12 of the past 13 seasons. The Gaels beat the Zags for the third time in the past four meetings thanks to significant contributions from two unexpected sources.

Harry Wessels, a 7-foot-1 junior center backup center from Australia, came off the bench when senior Mitchell Saxen fouled out with 4:22 left, and made the two biggest plays of the night.

First, with the score tied at 58-all, Wessels made a pair of free throws with 50.4 seconds left to put the Gaels in front. Saint Mary’s was 5 for 15 from the foul line in the first half, so converting these two was anything but a sure thing.

Was he nervous?

“Yeah, for sure. For sure,” Wessels said. “The first thing I thought of is they might be the biggest ones of my life. I probably should make these.”

He did, and then with 29 seconds left he blocked a point-blank shot by Gonzaga star forward Graham Ike, who led all scorers with 24 points. After Ike shot an airball on a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left, Jordan Ross iced the game for the Gaels by making two free throws in the final second.

Bennett praised Wessels for staying ready even though he gets limited playing time behind Saxen, the league’s reigning defensive player of the year.

“You can’t let whether a coach puts you in or not determine whether you’re confident. He’s doing a better job of that,” Bennett said. “We needed him tonight and he was really good.”

They needed freshman guard Mikey Lewis, too, especially when Gonzaga battled back from a 14-point deficit midway through the first half and pulled even by throwing the Gaels out of rhythm with a zone defense.

Lewis was the answer, scoring 10 of his team-high 16 points in the second half. He made four 3-pointers, none bigger than the one he hit with 4:44 left to give the Gaels a 56-51 cushion.

“He really got going when we got a little stagnant against their zone,” Wessels said Lewis. “He’s an electric player — fun to watch. He’s not lacking (confidence) at all.”

“He has big belief,” Bennett confirmed. “He’s big in big moments. He didn’t hit ‘em all but he changed how they had to guard us.”

The Gaels won the rebounding battle 40-34, including 14 offensive boards. They also held the Zags to a season-low scoring total on the heels of a seven-game stretch where they averaged better than 95 points.

“We really try to be good at rebounding and make it hard for people to score,” Bennett said. “That’s kind of where we hang our hat.”

Forward Paulius Murauskas had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Gaels, Saxen had nine points and 11 rebounds before fouling out and point guard Augustas Marciulionis, who played the final 9:41 with four fouls, had eight points and nine assists.

The Gaels will put their NCAA-leading 15-game road win streak to the test on Thursday when they visit second-place USF (18-6, 8-3) for a 6 p.m. tipoff.