Ben Gregg scored a career-high 24 points as No. 3 Gonzaga took control in the first half and surged ahead in the second for a 90-65 victory over Davidson in the fifth-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis Friday in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
The Bulldogs (7-1) earned their sixth double-digit win this season and they followed up an impressive 89-73 win over No. 14 Indiana with another strong performance.
Coming off the bench, Gregg surpassed his previous career-high of 22 set against San Diego on Jan. 6. He made 8 of 10 shots, all seven of his free throw attempts and grabbed eight rebounds as Gonzaga shot 54.7 percent and scored 58 points in the paint.
Graham Ike added a double-double with 18 and 10 rebounds while Braden Huff contributed 14 points as Gonzaga withstood a quiet night from leading scorer Khalif Battle. Battle was held to four points on 1-of-7 from the field but the Bulldogs had more than enough, including a career-high 14 assists from Ryan Nembhard.
Reed Bailey scored 19 and Roberts Blum added 11 for Davidson (5-2), which was blown out for the second time in this event after taking a 33-point loss to No. 24 Arizona in the opening round. The Wildcats also got quiet games from Connor Kochera and Bobby Durkin, who combined for 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting after excelling in Thursday’s win over Providence.
Gonzaga took a 28-18 lead when Nembhard found Huff in the lane for a hook shot with 7:51 left as part of an 8-0 run. Nembhard’s three-point play upped the lead to 33-19 with 7:08 left, Gregg’s trey made it 36-21 with 5:23 remaining and the Bulldogs held a 42-31 lead by halftime.
Gonzaga scored the first nine points of the second half and opened a 51-31 lead on a layup by Ike with 16:41 left. Nolan Hickman’s 3-pointer extended the lead to 60-37 with 13:24 left and a three-point play by Gregg opened a 65-38 edge about two minutes later.
–Field Level Media
