Jackson Leija (Sports Writer)
Monday, April 5. The NCAA National championship for the “March Madness” tournament. The undefeated Gonzaga Bulldogs would face the Baylor Bears that were just 28&2. But the game wasn’t so close. The Baylor Bears came out strong leading by 13 points in the first 7 minutes of the first half, the biggest deficit Gonzaga would face the whole season. The final of the game was 86-70 Baylor on top. Even though Gonzaga had a higher shooting percentage they still lost due to the number of offensive rebounds Baylor put up. Bayor had 16 offensive rebounds and 22 defensive rebounds. Gonzaga had 5 offensive rebounds and only 17 defensive rebounds. Even though the championship was a rough loss just two days before on Saturday, April 3 the UCLA Bruins faced the Gonzaga Bulldogs in a game that would end in a last-second buzzer beater to close out the game. The last time UCLA went to the “Final Four” was in the 2007-2008 season, this year UCLA was ranked 11 seed and matches the record for the lowest seed in the “final four”. They were able to upset No. 1 seed Michigan in a 51-49 game in the “Elite Eight”. Saturday’s game was a close one, both teams’ neck and neck shooting both around %58 from field goals and both with 10 turnovers overall. Even in the first ten minutes of the game, the score was 19-20 Gonzaga with just a 1 point lead. By half time the score was still so close 44-46. Gonzaga with a 2 point lead. With just a second to go, the two teams were tied 81-81 and Gonzaga would force overtime due to a charge call against UCLA. with just 12 seconds a chance for UCLA to tie or win it the score is 88-90. Johnny Juzang drives to the hoop and floats the ball towards the hoop. The ball misses just short but Juzang quickly reacts and puts the ball back up. The score is now tied at 90 with just 3.3 seconds on the clock. Jalen Suggs with just seconds left is inbounded by the ball. He quickly drives down the court stopping just after the half-court mark, and with just .9 of a second left releases the ball forever making history and closing out the game in overtime 90-93 Gonzaga on top. Even though the Gonzaga Bulldogs won the game UCLA had an amazing season going from the no.11 seed to the final four and proved that hard work was able to get them almost all the way to the championship game.
The Claw 