Las Vegas’ Annual Spring Hoops Rite: Gonzaga Vs Saint Mary’s In West Coast Conference Final At Orleans Arena; Gaels Win, 69-60
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
For the last 15 years, either Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s has won the West Coast Conference to qualify for the Big Dance of college hoops.
And here in Las Vegas, it will be the same tonight.
The Bulldogs and Gaels face off once again at Orleans Arena, which is Spokane South for all those fans who make the mid-March pilgrimage to watch their Zags.
Saint Mary’s plays in a small venue on its quaint campus in scenic Contra Costa County outside Oakland, while the Gonzaga squad has a small arena where tickets are coveted in eatsern Washington.
The blue and red of Gonzaga were splashed all over the Orleans Arena, an ideal size with 9,500 seats for the West Coast Conference’s championship tourney. The fit is right and the WCC has a deal with Orleans Arena to be here through 2025.
Seat Geek has secondary market tickets for this game starting at $121. Vividseats had secondary market tickets for this game starting at $117.
Boyd Gaming owns the Orleans and made a $6.5 million contribution to UNLV for a multi-use indoor facility for the Rebels’ sports programs. It was the biggest combined corporate and family contribution in UNLV sports history.
The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels play a strong San Diego State team Thursday at 2:30 PM at the Mountain West Conference tourney at Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus. While the Thomas & Mack is UNLV’s home arena, the Mountain West converts the Runnin’ Rebels’ home floor into a neutral court for the MWC championships.
The UNLV logos are covered and Mountain West marketing officials sell the tourney as a place where visiting fans can turn the Las Vegas venue into their own home court like The Pit in New Mexico.
Gonzaga does exactly that at Orleans Arena, where Zags fans dominate the gym.
The Saint Mary’s team, in the end, held on to defeat Gonzaga, 69-60, to win the WCC tournament. The Gaels’ coach, Randy Bennett, celebrated with close friends after the win.
