The Santa Clara Broncos took a step up in competition on Thanksgiving night and proved their mettle with a 79-76 overtime victory over the New Mexico Lobos. The Broncos entered the game as eight point underdogs to the Mountain West Conference favorites. Santa Clara dominated for much of the game but had to hold on late after blowing a six-point lead in the final two minutes of regulation.
Kevin Foster led the way for the Broncos with 26 points, but he received a lot of help from Evan Roguemore (24 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds) and Niyi Harrison (19 points, 7 rebounds). If the Broncos are going to take the next step this season, they will need contributions up and down the lineup. They received only three bench points and will need more from their reserves.
The Broncos advance to face the Oklahoma Sooners Saturday night at 9:00pm PT on ESPN2. The Sooners are coming off a 14-18 season, but brought in Lon Kruger to help turn the program around. Oklahoma is 3-0 after taking down Washington State in their opening round game. The winner of this game will face the winner of Villanova-Saint Louis in the championship game.