Dec. 30, 2000
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Stanford performed as expected, leaving SantaClara to do its best to keep up.
"They played hard. They didn't quit," said Jarron Collins, who had acareer-high 25 points as second-ranked Stanford beat Santa Clara 78-63 Saturdaynight to win the Cable Car Classic.
Although the outcome was predictable, the Cardinal players were impressedwith Santa Clara's tenacity. When the Broncos came as close as 10 points in thesecond half, the hometown fans roared and Stanford scrambled.
"It felt like a league road game - they came back and the crowd really gotinto it," Cardinal guard Michael McDonald said.
Stanford led by as many as 21 points twice in the second half. The Cardinalwent up 53-32 early on Casey Jacobsen's 3-pointer, and later took a 62-41 leadon Julius Barnes' layup.
The Broncos narrowed the gap to 10 on Jamie Holmes' 3-pointer that made it69-59 with 4:32 left. Holmes by himelf produced an 8-1 run against Stanford,but the Broncos couldn't get any closer.
"A month ago we would have lost this game by 35 points," Santa Clara coachDick Davey said. "Maybe Stanford didn't play as hard when they were ahead ormaybe we got better, I don't know."
Jacobsen added 20 points for the Cardinal (11-0), who have earned threetournament titles this season.
The Broncos (6-7) got 15 points from Holmes - their only player in doublefigures. He added six rebounds.
"Santa Clara played hard for 40 minutes - they were definitely theaggressor and they took care of the ball," Stanford coach Mike Montgomerysaid. "We missed some shots and some free throws down the stretch whichallowed them to get back in the ballgame."
Santa Clara came out valiantly, taking a 7-5 lead on a 3-pointer by SteveRoss. But the success was short-lived.
Stanford took a 13-12 lead on Collins' slam at 15:22 and never trailedagain, methodically wearing down the smaller and less savvy Broncos.
The Cardinal extended their lead to as many as 17 points late in the firsthalf, going up 41-24 on an 11-0 run - marked by Collins' nine points.
Collins, the tournament's most valuable player, had 16 points as Stanfordwent into halftime with a 44-30 lead. The Cardinal are 37-2 when he scores indouble figures. This season, Collins has scored in double digits in nine games.
It was just Stanford's second appearance in the 34-year history of the SanFrancisco Bay area's Cable Car Classic. The Cardinal won the 1997 championship,which was played at the San Jose Arena.
Stanford beat Fordham 86-60 in the first round Friday night, and Santa Claradefeated George Mason 78-76 in double overtime.
Earlier Saturday, Fordham defeated George Mason 64-55 in the consolationgame.