Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Santa Clara
Men's Basketball Downs Santa Clara
12/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2000
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - Chris Jefferies scored 13 of his game-high 20 points in the second half as Fresno State defeated Santa Clara 64-51 on Wednesday night at the new Leavey Center.
Melvin Ely added a season-high 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Bulldogs (5-2) won for the fourth time in their last five games.
Brian Jones scored 19 points for Santa Clara (4-4), and Jamie Holmes added 12 points. Freshman Jim Howell had 12 rebounds.
The Broncos shot just 29 percent from the floor and committed 23 turnovers.
After four lead changes in the first three minutes of the second half, Fresno State went on a 7-0 run to take a 41-35 edge and held the lead the rest of the way, though the Broncos were within four points on a few occasions.
The Bulldogs got a pair of free throws from Ely just before intermission to take a 31-30 lead into halftime.
It was the first game played at Santa Clara's new campus facility, which cost $11.75 million and replaced the claustrophobic bubble roof at Toso Pavilion. Santa Clara played its first seven games on the road.
Jefferies christened the new building with the first basket on a layup 58 seconds into the game.
The Leavey Center will eventually seat 5,000 fans. There's currently room for 3,800.
"Toso was a gym, but this is an arena," Santa Clara guard Brian Jones said. "It feels like a big-time college basketball facility. It feels bigger than it is."
It was the first game for both teams in 11 days, and each team was coming off a double overtime contest, with Fresno State losing to host San Francisco, and Santa Clara beating host Chattanooga.
The Bulldogs were hoping to have guard Tito Maddux eligible for the game, but the NCAA denied the school's appeal to shorten the sanction to six games from eight games. Maddux, who was ruled ineligible for taking a free trip to Las Vegas and meeting a registered sports agent, will be eligible to play next Tuesday.
