Davidson comes up short against Gonzaga

Published Nov. 25, 2012 10:41 p.m. ET

foxsports

Davidson made a good impression on Gonzaga coach Mark Few even in defeat.

Elias Harris scored 24 points, Kevin Pangos added 23 and No. 17 Gonzaga beat Davidson 81-67 Sunday night in the Old Spice Classic championship game.

''For stretches of that game I didn't feel very good,'' Few said. ''They can make you look and feel pretty silly.''

Kelly Olynyk added 14 points for Gonzaga (6-0), which also won the 2008 Old Spice Classic. The Bulldogs are undefeated in six overall games at the tourney.

Davidson (3-3) got 17 points from Nik Cochran. Jake Cohen had 13 and De'Mon Brooks finished with 12.

''We clearly need to me more consistent,'' Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. ''Can we be more consistent? That's the mark of outstanding teams. Consistency for 40 minutes, and I think we understand that. This certainly is something for our memory bank to look back on.''

Both teams won two previous games in advancing to the title matchup. Gonzaga beat Oklahoma (72-47) and Clemson (57-49). Davidson posted victories over Vanderbilt (75-62) and West Virginia (63-60).

''(We got) two terrific wins, a chance to play a top-20 team and expose ourselves to what we need to do better,'' McKillop said.

Pangos connected on a 3 to give Gonzaga a 58-53 lead with eight minutes to play. The guard had another 3 to make it 64-57 two minutes later.

Harris had consecutive baskets as the Bulldogs went up 74-63 with three minutes remaining.

Brooks' fast-break layup tied it at 51 midway through the second. He spent parts of the final nine minutes on the bench after picking up his fourth foul.

Brooks and Cohen both fouled out late in the game.

Davidson, keyed by two baskets from Cohen, started the second half by scoring six straight to cut its deficit to 33-30. Clint Mann's 3-pointer three minutes into the half got the Wildcats within 35-33.

''They came hard with a push in the second half there, but some guys stepped up and made big plays,'' Olynyk said.

Harris had 11 points to help Gonzaga, which trailed by nine early on, take a 33-24 halftime lead. The forward, who moved past Steven Gray into 15th place on the school's all-time scoring list, had pair of baskets and a 3-point play to put the Bulldogs ahead 30-18 with 3:47 before the break.

Przemek Karnowski scored six points during a 11-2 run that got Gonzaga even at 15-all midway through the first half.

Cochran had five points, including a long-range jumper, and Brooks added two in-close baskets to help Davidson go up 13-4 just over four minutes into the game.

''We knew it was going to be tough,'' Few said. ''That's just an unbelievably skilled team that is tough as nails. That fights you on every possession. We had to respond several different times to finally get it going in our direction.''