SANTA CLARA — Playing three Division I teams in five days might have seemed like a tall order, but the chance to develop the Warriors this early in the season has proved priceless.

With each game, the Warriors improved and the preseason exhibition triple play ended with an upset win over Santa Clara, 69-68, at the Leavey Center. The win was the Warriors' first win over a Division I program since beating UC Irvine in 2005-06.

Five Warriors scored in double figures with Rick Cardoso leading the way with 16. Duane Jones, J.R. Cassita and Calvin Westbrook each had 12 and Heath Colvin chipped in 10.

“You know, our guys didn't look intimidated at all. When they came out it was like, 'we can do this',” Warrior head coach Keith Larsen said. “Maybe it was because we played three games in five days and that was the plan on paper when we put it on the schedule.”

On Monday night, it was the Warriors defense coming up big in the two final Santa Clara possessions.

With the ball and 17.8 seconds left coming out of a timeout, Santa Clara tried to work the in the paint into 6-foot-10 John Bryant. And like the previous possession, the Warriors responded defensively as Health Colvin tipped the ball away as time expired.

The trip before, SCU tried a similar play, trying to feed a pass to their big man in the center who weights 305 pounds, but Casey Fletcher intercepted the pass to allow the Warriors to milk some clock before taking a time out and an one-point lead.

Santa Clara managed to regain control by forcing a turnover in front of the Warriors bench and called time out with 17.8 ticks left to set-up the final sequence.

“Interesting enough we are not a good zone defense team, but with people fouling out we had to do what we have to do,” Larsen said. “They figured it out and cut in front of (Bryant).”

Bryant who finished with 25 points and seven rebounds to lead the Broncos. Mitch Henke addded 15 points.

Stanislaus led for most of the game after taking the advantage at 11-9. Santa Clara, however, rallied back after a pair of Bryant free throws at 6:39 in the second half to take a 57-56 lead before a seesaw battle ensued.

After a shaky start, the Warriors played well in the first half taking control with fast breaks, taking advantage of poor shooting by the Broncos and hitting three-pointers. A Westbrook fast-break layup at 6:15 gave CSUS a 10-point 28-18 lead. The Warriors took a 35-25 halftime lead before 12 points and seven rebounds from Cardoso.

The Broncos shot just 32.3 percent in the first half with Bryant leading with nine on 4 of 10 shooting. 

The Warriors started the 2007-08 preseason with an 81-59 loss to Pacific on Thursday before a 97-89 defeat at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo on Saturday. Cardoso had 23 points and 14 boards in Saturday's game.



Cal State Stanislaus opens the regular season next week with a pair of games at the Seattle University Tournament in Seattle.