Unfortuntalty Sean was severely limited due to an ankle sprain on Monday and unable to play as many minutes as he usually does and deserved to on Senior night. Sean has been a key contributor throughout his career as a Zag, and he has also represented the program and University very well on and off the floor. Often times Mallon’s contributions on the floor have been over looked because he rarely puts up eye popping statistics; however Sean’s influence on the past four years can not be overlooked. Mallon has been the consummate team player; taking on whatever role the team needs each game, adapting his style of play year to year and game to game. Sean’s career statistics will be very impressive when he finishes his time as a Zag, over 500 rebounds and close to 900 points, but what is most impressive about Mallon’s career is the team’s winning percentage during his career and all the intangible things he did and all the personal sacrifices he made to allow the team to be a successful as they were during his time.

Raivio hit the first shot of the game in his final home game, and went on to score a team high 20 points. Derek will finish his career among Gonzaga’s all-time leaders in points, steal and assists, and with no doubt will be the school’s all time best free throw shooter. Similar to Sean, Raivio has had to change his role over the years but he has always produced big numbers for the Zags, as evidenced by his career statistics, which will include well over 120 steals, 1400 points and 300 assists. Derek is one of the hardest workers to wear a Gonzaga uniform, and his hard worked is evident in his improvement over his career, especially in his passing and defense. Raivio, like Mallon, as not always received as much credit as he is due for his remarkable career, as he will finish statistically and winning percentage wise on par with Gonzaga’s great point guards: Stockton, Santangelo, Stepp, and Dickau, yet he is rarely mentioned in the same breathe as these players which he clearly deserves to be.

While Raivio led the way on Senior night, his teammates stepped up in a big way to send Derek and Sean out as they deserved. As a team Gonzaga came out with great energy and took the Pilots out of the game early, mainly by shutting down Portland’s best two scorers, Cooper and Ito, in the first half. While Gonzaga clearly relaxed in the second half and let Portland back into the game after being up by 33, the first half defensive effort was very impressive. The guards were active and took away open looks for the Pilots outside, while Kuso protected the paint with 5 blocks. Offensively Pendo, Bouldin, and Downs all scored the ball very well, and efficiently, while Pargo handed out a game high 8 assists. Matt responded very well after a rough game Saturday, scoring 18 points on only 10 shots, and Pendo continued his great play with a career high 15 points on just 9 attempts. Micah also had a career with 19 points, and showed his versatility with 3 three pointers and 3 great drivers to the basket. For the second game in row Gonzaga played extremely well together both offensively and defensively and they seem to have found the effort necessary to be successful with the current lineup. Now the Bulldog’s must capture the energy they played with the previous two games at home, and take it on the road with them for the final WCC weekend in order to clinch a semifinal spot in the WCC tournament and have a chance to at least share the WCC regular season title.

Monday night’s game was a great win and performance for the team, but the most important thing was that Sean and Derek both got the send off they deserved from their fans and teammates alike in their final home game.