Posted By RYAN WOLSTAT, QMI AGENCY Posted 20 hours ago

They were up against one of the top defences in the NCAA, but it was the Gonzaga Bulldogs, led by their Canadian class “clown” Robert Sacre that advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament Friday.

Gonzaga let a big lead get whittled down, but hung on to beat the Florida State Seminoles 67-60 at an extremely pro-Zags HSBC Arena in Buffalo.

When it was over, Sacre, the seven-footer from West Vancouver B.C. joked about everything from his favourite curler (Leslie Neilson in theMen With Brooms)to his favourite hockey team (Vancouver Canucks) and captain (Jarome Iginla). But he was all business on the court.

Sacre, admitting he was pumped up by hearing the Canadian national anthem before the game — “we don’t play it enough at Gonzaga,” he said — outplayed fellow NBA prospect Solomon Alabi, matching him with 13 points, but outrebounding him 9-6.

Gonzaga played excellent in the first half, building a 17-7 lead, and its three Canadians were each key contributors. The Bulldogs found success down low by going to Sacre, who had eight points and four rebounds in the first half as Gonzaga took control.

They played excellent defence thanks in large part to Sacre, Kamloop’s B.C.’s Kelly Olynyk and Vancouver’s Bol Kong. Though Olynyk and Kong didn’t have much of a presence on the scoresheet (0 points combined, 4 rebounds for Olynyk), they both had an impact in holding the Seminoles to just 21.4% shooting in the first half.

Meanwhile, Gonzaga became the first team all season to shoot 50% against Florida State, the NCAA leader in field goal percentage against.

Not many Seminoles fans made the trek from Florida, but Gonzaga drew a large and vocal group from Washington State and fed off the energy from its fans on the way to building a 35-19 lead at the half.

Zags head coach Mark Few said Sacre is a “clown” but added that he is also a warrior who brings it every night no matter how big the opponent. But when forward Chris Singleton threw one down hard on Sacre early in the second half and then another with Sacre out of the game, momentum finally shifted the Seminoles’ way. Florida State closed within 10 with all of B.C.’s finest on the bench, prompting Few to go back to Sacre and Olynyk.

Sacre responded seconds into his return with a dunk. He was blocked by Alabi, but intimidated Alabi into a missed dunk the next trip down the floor.

Gonzaga's Canadians take lead in beating Florida