Gaels Come Up Short In Vegas, 75-63 Against Gonzaga

"It's a shoot out," Dominic Russo, student said Monday, "and it's nerve wracking."

His eyes were super glued to the screen, his body bent forward one moment, then jubilantly shot straight up at a Gael's hard-won basket.

was packed with students and local fans, all there for the WCC matchup with Gonzaga. The atmosphere was tense, focused, with each point celebrated briefly, then back to intensity.

"They're working hard for every point," one fan groaned to himself.

"It's been neck and neck and we're hoping they'll get out of that," said Jenna McCay, a senior Communications major at the college. "I've been a fan from day one.  They've gotta win."

Lou Dokos sold his home when Moraga's beloved coach moved here nine years ago. Asked if they talked basketball, Dokos answered, "I talked, but he didn't want to listen to me."

Brian O'Regan, a senior at SMC, whose friends boasted that he knows everything there is to know about each player, put himself in Mickey McConnell's shoes:

"He's thinking, 'Can we please stop fouling?'" O'Regan channeled. "And he's thinking, 'This  is my time; if we're going to win it, this is my time.'"

But it wasn't to be.  The Gaels fell to Gonzaga 75 to 63.