Dec. 30, 1997

Stanford Beats Santa Clara in Cable Car Championship

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Kris Weems scored 16 points and Arthur Lee had 15 as No. 7 Stanford beat Santa Clara 69-60 Tuesday night in the championship game of the Cable Car Classic.

Tim Young added 13 points and Ryan Mendez had 10 for Stanford (11-0), off to its best start since the 1936-37 team began the season 14-0.

Nathan Fast had 16 points to lead Santa Clara (8-3), while Craig Johnson added 11.

Todd Wuschnig's three-point play pulled Santa Clara within 40-39 and sent Stanford power forward Mark Madsen to the bench with his fourth foul with 16:30 remaining. He spent the next nine minutes on the bench and fouled out with just under a minute remaining.

Santa Clara, though, couldn't overtake the Cardinal.

With Madsen on the bench, Weems answered with a 3-pointer to start an 8-2 burst for a 48-41 lead with 12:51 left. The Broncos got close with six straight free throws, four by Johnson, to pull to 54-51 with 9:19 remaining.

Again, Weems, named the tournament MVP, drained a 3-pointer to stave off the Broncos' comeback and start a 9-0 surge that carried Stanford to a 63-51 lead with 3:32 remaining.

Finally, a driving layup by Wuschnig with 1:55 remaining ended a 7 1/2-minute scoring drought by Santa Clara. Wuschnig was fouled and converted the free throw for his second three-point play of the night, but there was no overtaking the Cardinal.

Johnson connected on a 3-pointer, touching off a 14-5 run that put Santa Clara in front 24-19. But the Cardinal came back to lead 34-32 at halftime, getting a dunk from Weems at the end of a fast break and a twisting layup from Lee in the last minute of the opening period.

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