Santa Clara misses last-second layup in opening-round loss to Sam Houston

Broncos' slow start came back to bite them

For the second consecutive year, a great season for the Santa Clara University men's basketball team came to a disappointing end in the opening round of the NIT Tournament.

The Broncos (23-10) started slow and took too long to come alive on their home court as they stumbled to a 58-56 loss to Sam Houston (26-7) on Wednesday night.

A last-second layup by freshman center Christoph Tilly could've tied the game, but the ball bounced off the rim just before time expired.

Hopes were high for a Santa Clara team that was playing in back-to-back postseason tournaments for the first time since 1996.

Led by West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Year Brandin Podziemski, a sophomore transfer from the University of Illinois, the Broncos won 23 regular season games, their most since 1969. They ended the season with seven straight wins and finished in third place behind Saint Mary's and Gonzaga.

But a 93-87 double-overtime loss to the University of San Francisco in the opening round of the WCC Tournament was followed by a difficult performance at the Leavey Center to finish their season on Wednesday.

Sam Houston came out flying behind senior Qua Grant, a Wichita State transfer who was the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

The speedy guard had his way with the Santa Clara defense, creating his own looks from 3-point range as he scored a gamehigh 21 points.

The Broncos didn't get on the board until four minutes in the first half, when Keshawn Justice dropped a 3-pointer. Justice, who led the league in 3-point attempts and recently moved past Steve Nash for most 3-pointers in SCU history, was shooting without fear in this one (3for-7 from 3-point range).

But the Broncos couldn't get a lot of clean shots off in the first half against Sam Houston's tight defense, one that was fourth in the nation this year while holding opponents to 58.8 points per game.

Standout sophomore Carlos Stewart kept SCU in the game with a couple momentum-shifting plays in the first half. He sprinted down the floor on a Bearkats fast-break, caught Damon Nicholas Jr. just before he went up for a layup and stripped the ball away. On the next possession, Stewart dribbled around three defenders and found Podziemski streaking through the paint for a sweet catch and release.

The Broncos were outplayed in the first half, getting outscored 30-26.

Down 43-33 with 14 minutes to play in the second half, the Broncos finally came alive.

With Podziemski (six rebounds) and Tilly (eight rebounds) dominating the boards, the Broncos fought for second-chance points and clawed their way back to within four after a Podziemski 3-pointer.

They cut it to 46-43 after a slick steal by Stewart, who ran the other way for an easy basket.

With 7:55 remaining, the Broncos tied the game when Podziemski got his own rebound and handed it off to Justice, who banged down another trey. Justice hit another one to finally put the Broncos ahead.

The roof nearly came off the Leavey Center when Tilly finished a one-handed dunk to put them ahead 5350.

Stewart left the game with about two minutes remaining due to an apparent injury.

Sam Houston went ahead with 52 seconds left on a short jumper from Cameron Huefner.

The Broncos held tight on defense to secure one final possession with nine seconds left, but Tilly missed a contested layup as time was expiring.

Podziemski finished with a team-high 18 points.

The Broncos also lost in the first round of the NIT last year.