Seniors roll, look to keep it up
Senior Day typically means a trip down memory lane for a head coach and his soon-to-be departing players.
But at McKeon Pavilion on Saturday afternoon, Senior Day for St. Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett and his three core seniors meant fighting the nostalgic urge because the present and near future carry so much significance.
Following the traditional pregame ceremony honoring the players and their families, the present mixed with the past in that the result was profoundly familiar: The 22nd-ranked Gaels pasted Santa Clara 67-40.
That upped St. Mary’s record over the past four years to 10625. Forward Calvin Hermanson, guard Emmett Naar and center Jock Landale have contributed mightily to those 106 victories.
“There are a lot of emotions (on Senior Day), but you have to be ready to compete,” Bennett said.
On Saturday, Landale had game highs of 19 points and eight rebounds. Naar scored 12 points and Hermanson 10. All of Hermanson’s came in the first half.
Landale said he and his teammates didn’t become absorbed in the Senior Day festivities.
“I think we all did a really good job of just blocking it out,” Landale said. “I guess the way we looked at it was, we don’t want to play another home game. We want to stay out of the NIT.”
Yes, the Gaels (27-4, 16-2 WCC) figure they need to keep winning to enhance their NCAA Tournament resume. They remember two years ago when they entered Selection Sunday with a 27-5 record but did not receive an at-large NCAA bid.
The Gaels had a chance to tie Gonzaga for the WCC regularseason title, but the Zags won at BYU. That means St. Mary’s will be the No. 2 seed in the WCC tournament and will face either Pepperdine or Santa Clara next Saturday in Las Vegas.
On Saturday in Moraga, Bennett didn’t get overly emotional about Hermanson, Naar and Landale, but he did pay tribute to them.
“That’s where I get nostalgic,” Bennett said. “Because of their unselfishness and their willingness to be great teammates, they put our program where it’s at right now.”
Said Naar: “Coach is a pretty nostalgic guy. He gets a bit emotional. But, I was talking with Calvin, we’ve got a lot more to do.” Briefly: St. Mary’s guard Cullen Neal, a graduate transfer, also was honored before the game. He finished with two points. … Senior Henry Caruso led the Broncos (11-19, 8-10) with 14 points. … Santa Clara guard KJ Feagin left the game in the first half because of a sprained left ankle. He did not return. Emmanuel Ndumanya, the Broncos’ center, departed with a little more than five minutes remaining after injuring his back. A Santa Clara spokesman said neither injury appears to be serious. … St. Mary’s has won the past six meetings with Santa Clara and 20 of the past 23.