The Santa Clara Broncos opened their 2011-2012 campaign with a laugher as they rolled over the UC Merced Bobcats 80-48. The game was never in doubt as Santa Clara jumped out to a 19-1 lead at the 12:41 mark. They went into the half up 45-17 and won easily by 32.
2010-11 WCC scoring leader Kevin Foster led all scorers with 17 points. Evan Roquemore finished with 16 points and Brandon Clark added 12 points off the bench in extended minutes. The Broncos emptied out their bench as 14 players received minutes and 12 of those players scored points in the game.
Santa Clara dominated the game on the boards with a 25 rebound edge, but they played a bit sloppy, finishing with 19 turnovers. Given the level of competition presented by UC Merced, they could get away with these kinds of mistakes. Merced is in their first year of varsity basketball as they joined the NAIA this season. This was their second ever varsity game.
As the Broncos move along in their schedule, they'll need to clean up the mistakes. The Broncos travel to face UC Santa Barbara next Tuesday and host the San Jose State Spartans next Saturday before heading to Anaheim for what will be a tough field of foes in the ESPNU 76 Classic.