PHOENIX (Field Level Media) - Santa Clara held off a late comeback to defeat Washington State 69-61 Saturday at the Jerry Colangelo Classic in Phoenix behind 23 points from Adama-Alpha Bal.
Isaac Jones led Washington State (8-2) with 16 points. Andrej Jakimovski added 14 and Myles Rice scored 12 for the Cougars, who had a six-game winning streak come to an end.
Bal was 6 for 9 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, and made all eight of his free-throw attempts.
The Cougars were up 16-12 with 13:55 left in half before Santa Clara went on a 23-1 run.