{"id":10750,"date":"2017-04-02T02:34:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-02T02:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/04\/02\/gonzaga-earns-first-shot-at-championship-with-win-over-south-carolina\/"},"modified":"2017-04-02T02:34:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-02T02:34:00","slug":"gonzaga-earns-first-shot-at-championship-with-win-over-south-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/gonzaga-earns-first-shot-at-championship-with-win-over-south-carolina\/","title":{"rendered":"Gonzaga Earns First Shot At Championship With Win Over South Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tom Goldman<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Gonzaga’s Nigel Williams-Goss celebrates his team’s win at Saturday night’s buzzer for the NCAA semifinals game against South Carolina.<\/p>\n

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Charlie Neibergall\/AP<\/p>\n

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Charlie Neibergall\/AP<\/p>\n

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The Gonzaga Bulldogs will advance to their first national championship game, after the Final Four newcomers outlasted the South Carolina Gamecocks with a 77-73 win.<\/p>\n

But considering Saturday night’s neck-and-neck finish, there wasn’t a whole lot of excitement in the University of Phoenix stadium until after halftime.<\/p>\n

With 11 minutes left in the second half, Gonzaga had what appeared to be a comfortable 14-point lead. But then, South Carolina tightened its defense, and went on an out-of-nowhere 16-0 streak to take the lead. Gonzaga looked out of sorts, before responding with a 7-0 run of its own.<\/p>\n

From then on, the game stayed tight, and the fans came alive. It was a fight to the end with the bigger Bulldogs taking advantage of their twin towers \u2014 7-foot freshman Zach Collins and 7-foot-1 senior Przemek Karnowski.<\/p>\n

Despite palpable excitement in the arena, the game felt a bit like an appetizer before the second semifinal \u2014 with the explosive, athletic Oregon Ducks (splendiferous in their dark green uniforms) taking the stage against the classic powder-blue-and-white North Carolina, with its 5-time championship pedigree.<\/p>\n