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Memphis tops Gonzaga to extend streak to 15 in a row

Feb 18, 2007 - 4:46 AM SPOKANE, Washington (Ticker) -- Memphis now owns the nation's longest winning streak - barely.

Chris Douglas-Roberts scored on a lunging drive in the lane with 5.6 seconds left in overtime to lift the ninth-ranked Tigers to a 78-77 non-conference victory over Gonzaga.

Joey Dorsey had 15 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots as Memphis (23-3) won its 15th straight game, the best in the country after top-ranked Florida lost to Vanderbilt earlier on Saturday.

Memphis has had few close encounters, winning its previous 14 games by an average of 29.4 points with just one contest decided by single digits.

The Tigers appeared on the way to another laugher, pushing the lead to 49-38 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Antonio Anderson 3 1/2 minutes into the second half.

Gonzaga (18-10), which had its 50-game home winning streak snapped on Monday against Santa Clara, fought back as Micah Downs, Jeremy Pargo and David Pendergraft hit from the arc in a 15-4 run to cut the deficit to 61-60 with just over seven minutes remaining.

After falling behind, 69-64, Gonzaga scored the final five points on a 3-pointer by Pendergraft and Pargo's jumper in the lane to force overtime.

Jeremy Hunt hit a pair of huge 3-pointers in overtime for Memphis, the second one putting the Tigers ahead, 76-75, with 1:06 to play.

After Dorsey missed two free throws, Abdullahi Kuso regained the lead for Gonzaga by hitting a pair from the stripe with 17 seconds left, then blocked a shot by Douglas-Roberts at the other end.

Douglas-Roberts got the ball on the inbound play and barged down the lane, hoisting up a lefthanded layup as he was fouled by Kuso. Douglas-Roberts missed the free throw but Jeremy Pargo's winning 3-point attempt was long to keep Memphis' streak intact.

Gonzaga, meanwhile, has lost back-to-back games in Spokane for the first time since January 1995. It also marks the first time the Zags have lost double-digit games in coach Mark Few's eight years.

Robert Dozier scored 14 points and Douglas-Roberts 13 for the Tigers, who haven't lost since December 20 at Arizona.

Derek Raivio paced Gonzaga with 21 points, including 4-for-4 at the free-throw line to extend his streak at the stripe to 46 in a row, breaking his own West Coast Conference and school record of 44.

Free-throw shooting was almost the undoing for the Tigers, who were 18-of-32 overall and 9-of-16 in the second half.

The Zags were playing their third straight game without second-leading scorer Josh Heytvelt, who is suspended indefinitely after his arrest on drug charges last weekend.