San Francisco, CA
No. 18 Saint Mary’s beats San Francisco 70-66 for its 14th straight win
MORAGA, Calif. (AP) — Mitchell Saxen scored 20 points, Alex Ducas added 18 and No. 18 Saint Mary’s extended the longest active winning streak in the nation to 14 straight games with a 70-66 victory over San Francisco on Tuesday night.
The Gaels (22-6, 13-0 West Coast Conference) remained the only team in the country unbeaten in conference play but it didn’t come easy against their cross-bay rivals.
They overcame a four-point deficit late and snapped a six-game winning streak for the Dons (21-7, 10-3).
“It really just gets down to toughness and physicality,” Saxen said. “We’ve been in that spot before, down four late in the second half early in the season and haven’t gotten things done. But we showed a lot of maturity as a team and stayed on our front foot, stayed aggressive and had a ton of belief in each other and pulled it out.”
Aidan Mahaney added 12 points, including a key 3-pointer late that needed a replay review to count after officials originally ruled it was tipped in after bouncing high off the rim.
The Gaels won the game with their physicality, outrebounding the Dons 36-23 and getting to the foul line 32 times.
“When you go plus 13 (rebounding) in a tight game like that, that does lead to fouls,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. “That does lead to get to the free throw line and we did. I would say that’s the best thing we did tonight.
Marcus Williams scored 26 points to lead San Francisco.
The Dons went on a 7-0 run midway through the second half to take their first lead since the opening minutes on a 3-pointer by Ndewedo Newbury that made it 46-45.
The game stayed tight from there until Saint Mary’s went on an 8-0 run of its own capped by the big 3-pointer by Mahaney that made it 62-58 with 3:36 to play.
The Gaels never relinquished the lead again and held on for their 20th straight home win in this series.
“You can throw the game plan out the window if you’re not going to be tough and you’re not going to rebound,” Dons coach Chris Gerlufsen said. “I thought we were tough enough for the majority of the game. We just did not take care of the glass the way that we need to, especially on the road.”
Saint Mary’s once again was short-handed with forward Joshua Jefferson sidelined for a second straight game by a knee injury that Bennett said will keep him out for the rest of the season.
The Gaels didn’t look sharp early and missed five shots on one trip down the court in the opening minutes. But they got extra chances with strong offensive rebounding and managed to get to the line enough to take a 30-25 halftime lead.
BIG PICTURE
San Francisco: The Dons once again came up on the short end against Saint Mary’s losing for the 10th straight time in the series. San Francisco fell a half-game behind second-place Gonzaga.
Saint Mary’s: The win assures the Gaels of a top-two finish in the conference and a spot in the semifinals of the WCC tournament next month in Las Vegas. The Gaels have a 2 1/2-game lead over Gonzaga and can clinch the top seed in the conference tournament with a win over San Diego on Saturday.
UP NEXT
San Francisco: Hosts Pepperdine on Saturday night.
Saint Mary’s: Hosts San Diego on Saturday night.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
San Francisco, CA
Live From Microsoft Build 2026 San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
VIDEO: Car crashes into SF Castro restaurant, driver flees scene
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Dramatic video shows a car smashing into dining parklets and a restaurant in San Francisco. The crash happened happeend before 2 a.m. on Sunday, and no one was injured.
As of Sunday night, police are still trying to locate and identify the driver who ran away. In the video, after airbags were deployed from the crash, the driver was seen leaving the car behind.
The car crashed into Castro Indian Restaurant and bar owner Ajay Khadka says he got an alert and arrived within 15 minutes. After reviewing his security video, he says he saw people standing in the area just moments before the crash.
“People were just walking around like that second, not even a minute; no one was there. So thank god nobody got hurt; otherwise it would be devastating,” Khadka said.
Police responded to investigate but were unable to find the driver. The victimized restaurant has been part of the Castro for nearly two decades and is now boarded up.
Manager Narmela Khordians says she got a call from the landlord about an hour after closing and rushed back to the restaurant.
“I’m hurt; it was an emotional feeling last night,” Khordians said. “I hope the police will arrest him. He needs to pay the price for it because this is not fair for small businesses for people. I’m glad we were closed because it could have been worse.”
Despite damage to the front of the restaurant and its parklet, Cafe Mystique reopened Sunday.
“Normally, we are very busy for Sunday brunch, so it affected our business as you see,” Khordians said. “Even though we tried to open, we had some customers who wanted to eat. Still, it’s not what we usually do. So it did affect our business, definitely.”
The restaurant is facing repairs that may cost as much as $25,000, according to Khadka. As of now, no arrests have been made.
KRON4 followed up with police asking if the car was stolen but did not hear back in time for this report.
San Francisco, CA
Tony Vitello just lost the only Giants allies he has left
Bullet point summary by AI
- San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello faces mounting criticism after his recent public remarks about his team’s performance.
- Vitello’s approach has begun to fracture the unity within the clubhouse just as the season heads toward a critical juncture.
- The front office now weighs whether to make broader changes or let the rookie manager work through his growing pains.
The San Francisco Giants lost five straight games heading into Sunday’s contest against the Colorado Rockies. While Rafael Devers has turned his season around to some degree, the same cannot be said of manager Tony Vitello, whose antics have put him between a rock and a hard place. Vitello’s hiring was a controversial one to begin with, as he had no big-league experience but thrived at the collegiate level with the Tennessee Volunteers. Buster Posey surely couldn’t have seen this season’s struggles coming.
Vitello hasn’t maintained his composure well this season, and it’s starting to impact the Giants clubhouse as this season fades into obscurity. Posey himself has stayed relatively quiet on Vitello’s future, and if Giants fans had their way he’d likely be a one-and-done manager. Vitello’s players, to their credit, have stayed together…until now. Over the weekend, the first-time MLB manager questioned his players’ effort and pride, a tactic that may have worked for him in Knoxville but will surely backfire in a larger market like San Francisco.
Tony Vitello betrayed the trust of Giants players
The Giants took a 6-3 lead in Friday’s game against the Rockies, but eventually blew that advantage in an 8-6 defeat. They fell behind quickly on Saturday in Colorado as well.
There’s only so much a manager can do to shoulder blame when his players aren’t performing up to par. However, blaming them to the media isn’t going to sit well in the clubhouse.
“We need to take a little more pride, I think, in how we…It’s ideal to not have last night occur, but bounce back,” Vitello told the media. “I got the vibe like we were in a position to do that. The first six outs we had at the plate would say that, but getting in a hole makes it a little tougher after that.”
Vitello isn’t necessarily wrong in his commentary of the Giants’ play of late, and even what he perceives as a lack of effort. However, he’d be wise to keep that criticism internal and call clubhouse leaders into his office to better apply that feedback.
Are bigger changes coming for the San Francisco Giants?
Speaking of fair criticism, this is one the players could surely push back onto their first-time manager: Vitello is in over his head. The Giants have already reassigned third-base coach Hector Borg in a wake-up call of sorts. If that doesn’t work — and the five straight losses suggest it hasn’t — then perhaps larger changes are looming.
Posey could opt to sell at the trade deadline. While Devers and Willy Adames are likely here to stay thanks to their large contracts, Robbie Ray is an attractive trade asset for contending teams and is on the final year of his deal. FanSided’s Chris Landers ranked Ray ninth on his trade deadline big board just last week.
“Ray…is an open and shut case: He’s in the final year of his five-year contract, and while he’s no longer the power pitcher he was in his prime, he’s still got gas left in the tank as a No. 4 starter who could even pivot to a valuable bullpen role in the postseason,” Landers wrote.
Posey and the Giants should not rush to panic and fire Vitello in season. Doing so defeats the entire purpose of hiring him. Vitello is learning on the job. Perhaps he’ll find his footing in the dog days of summer. Criticizing his own players, who thus far have had his back, isn’t a step in the right direction.
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