Santa Clara Rolls Past Loyola; Vanos Scores 44

Santa Clara’s Nick Vanos scored a career-high 44 points in a 91-70 West Coast Athletic Conference victory Thursday night at Loyola.

The 7-2 senior made 15 of 22 shots from the field, 14 of 19 from the foul line and grabbed 13 rebounds before a noisy crowd of 2,150 that included a handful of NBA scouts, coaches and general managers. The 44 points tied Vanos for second place on the all-time Santa Clara single game list (with Russ Vrankovich, who scored 44 against Pepperdine in 1964; the alltime single-game record for the Broncos is 55, set by Bud Ogden, also against Pepperdine). It was the most points scored by a player against Loyola since UC Irvine’s Kevin Magee got 46 three seasons ago.

With Santa Clara feeding Vanos every time down the floor against the shorter Lions, Vanos scored 20 of Santa Clara’s first 29 points en route to a 12-point first-half lead. He finished with 24 in the half but Loyola managed to cut its halftime deficit to 38-31.

With guard Keith Smith heating up in the second half, the Lions pulled to within 57-55 as Smith hit six straight jumpers. But Santa Clara pulled away in the final seven minutes as Lions kept fouling out trying to defend against Vanos. He punctuated Santa Clara’s getaway with a dunk at the six-minute mark that gave him 41 points and put the Broncos up, 76-63. He added a three-point play with 5:09 left before he left the game.

Vanos had support from forward Scott Lamson, who got 17 points, 13 in the second half, and guard Harold Keeling, with 11. Smith finished with 29 points for Loyola, 18 in the second half. The only other Lion in double figures was freshman guard Steve Haney with 12.

The victory lifted Santa Clara’s record to 14-6 overall and 3-1 in the WCAC, and tied the Broncos with St. Mary’s and Gonzaga, one-half game behind Pepperdine. Loyola fell to 9-10 and 1-3.

The Lions probably knew this one was coming. The last time they played Santa Clara, Vanos had a career high of 30 and has shot 70% in five games against the Lions.