UPS Blunts Seattle U. Rally

TACOMA - Matt Droege and Whitney Dixon combined for 50 points and Puget Sound held off a late-game rally by Seattle University for a 96-88 NAIA District 1 basketball victory last night.

The Chieftains (1-4, 4-15) led most of the first half, but UPS (2-1, 9-7) took control early in the second half and led by 10 points with 6:52 remaining.

Andre Lang, who scored a career-high 30 points, and Greg Gill sparked an 11-1 run by Seattle U. that tied the game at 80 with 4:04 to play.

Marshall Bennett answered with four points to put the Loggers ahead 84-80, and they didn't trail again. Puget Sound scored its last 10 points from the free-throw line.

-- AT GONZAGA 64, SANTA CLARA 61 (overtime) - Jeff Brown scored 18 points and Felix McGowan 15 as Gonzaga defeated Santa Clara 64-61 in overtime in a West Coast Conference game.

The Bulldogs (2-1 WCC, 10-5 overall) led 21-19 at halftime. Santa Clara (2-2, 8-8) tied the game five times in the second half, but never led. Steve Nash's three-pointer for the Broncos tied it at 52 to send the game into overtime.

Gonzaga's Geoff Goss hit five of six free throws in overtime and nine of 10 in the game. A missed free throw with one second left in the overtime ended his streak at a school- and league-record 41. The previous WCC mark was 34, by Seattle University's Frank Oleynick in 1975. The previous Gonzaga record was 40, by John Brodsky in 1965-66.

Mark Schmitz led Santa Clara with 18 points.

-- AT SEATTLE PACIFIC 63, ALASKA-FAIRBANKS 58 - Tosca Lindberg had 20 points and 16 rebounds, including her 1,000th career rebound, as Seattle Pacific edged Alaska-Fairbanks in a Pacific West Conference women's game at Brougham Pavilion.

Lindberg, a 6-foot senior from Montrose, Colo., scored in double figures for the sixth consecutive game.

The teams exchanged leads eight times in the first half before SPU scored the final four points to lead 31-28 at halftime.

The Falcons (1-1, 10-5) went scoreless for seven minutes midway through the second half. But Katrina Moudy's three-pointer gave SPU an eight-point lead and the Falcons hit several free throws down the stretch.

Rachel Schacht led the Nanooks (0-2, 8-10) with 14 points.

Note

-- SPU's Tosca Lindberg was named NCAA Division II regional player of the week by Don Hansen's National Weekly Basketball Gazette. Lindberg had 49 points, 31 rebounds and four blocked shots as the Falcons split two games last week.