Mikey Lewis established career highs of 31 points and seven 3-pointers and Saint Mary’s clinched a share of the West Coast Conference regular-season title with a 70-59 victory over No. 9 Gonzaga on Saturday night at Moraga, Calif.

Joshua Dent added 14 points and made four 3-pointers for the Gaels (27-4, 16-2 WCC), who have won or shared the title in each of the past four seasons. Saint Mary’s shared the regular-season crown with Gonzaga in 2023 and won the league outright each of the past two seasons.

Mantas Juzenas had 12 points on four treys as the Gaels defeated the Bulldogs for the seventh time in the past 13 meetings. Saint Mary’s outscored the Zags 41-23 in the second half en route to its eighth consecutive victory.

Graham Ike scored 17 points before fouling out with 3:44 remaining for the Bulldogs (28-3, 16-2), who previously clinched a share of the crown and will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming WCC postseason tournament. Saint Mary’s will be the No. 2 seed.

Adam Miller scored 14 points and Tyon Grant-Foster added 13 points and three blocked shots for Gonzaga, which had a six-game winning streak halted.

This was the final regular-season meeting between two programs that first played in 1955. Gonzaga is moving into the rebuilt Pac-12 next season.

Saint Mary’s shot 34.8% from the field, but was a solid 16 of 33 from 3-point range.

The Bulldogs made 39.3% of their attempts and were 5 of 17 from behind the arc. Gonzaga shot just 29.6% in the second half.

The score was tied at 44 before Saint Mary’s ripped off 10 consecutive points.

Lewis drained a 3-pointer and Paulius Murauskas added a layup for a five-point lead. Lewis made two free throws before Murauskas buried a trey to give the Gaels a 54-44 lead with 8:51 remaining.

Two baskets by Ike pulled Gonzaga within 56-50 with 6:04 remaining.

Saint Mary’s responded with 11 straight points on Andrew McKeever’s tip-in, Dent’s 3-pointer and Lewis’ two treys to make it 67-50 with 4:09 remaining.

Lewis later drained his seventh trey to make it 70-56 with 1:29 remaining as Saint Mary’s closed it out.

The Gaels trailed by seven at halftime but scored the first eight points of the second half and 15 of 17. Dent made two treys to cap the 8-0 burst to give Saint Mary’s a 37-36 edge.

Lewis scored the next seven Gaels’ points to make it 44-38 with 14:25 remaining.

Grant-Foster’s authoritative dunk allowed Gonzaga to knot the score at 44 with 11:09 to play.

Ike scored 13 first-half points as Gonzaga led 36-29 at the break.

–Field Level Media

For the second consecutive year, an American will win the ATX Open, as Peyton Stearns and Taylor Townsend won their respective semifinal matches Saturday in Austin, Texas, and will face off Sunday for the title.

The fourth-seeded Stearns, who was an All-American and national singles champion and part of two NCAA team titles at the University of Texas in Austin, went the distance in a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Australia’s Kimberly Birrell to reach her first singles final since 2024, when she won her lone title in Morocco.

Townsend, meanwhile, swept fellow American Ashlyn Krueger 7-6 (5), 6-3 to advance to the first singles final of her WTA career. Last year, Jessica Pegula took down McCartney Kessler 7-5, 6-2 in an all-American ATX Open final.

It took Stearns just over two hours, but she finally put away Birrell by winning the match’s last five games to secure a spot in her third career final. Stearns saved 5 of 10 break points while converting 7 of 10, including two of the last three of the match.

Townsend lost 12 of the first 15 points and trailed Kreuger 0-4 in the first set before turning the tables. Townsend won six of the next seven games, breaking Krueger when she was serving for the set. In the tiebreak, Townsend saved set point after letting a 5-1 lead in the tiebreak slip away.

Merida Open Akron

Spain’s Cristina Bucsa upset top-seeded Jasmine Piolini of Italy to set up a final against Poland’s Magdalena Frech, who took down China’s Zhang Shuai in the other semifinal at Merida, Mexico.

In her first career Top 10 win, Busca swept Piolini 7-5, 6-4 to reach her first WTA 500 final. Busca had been swept in all 10 of her previous matches against Top 10 opponents, but she defeated the World No. 7 player in 1 hour, 33 minutes. Busca hasn’t lost a set this week, taking leads of 5-2 in the first set and 4-0 in the second against Piolini en route to the upset.

In the other semifinal, Frech outlasted Zhang 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in a two-hour, 35-minute match, to reach her third WTA singles final and second at WTA 500 level in Mexico. Frech had four match points in the second set, but Zhang prevailed to force a decisive third set.

Zhang nearly doubled Frech’s total of winners, but the Polish player would not be denied. After the opponents twice traded breaks to open the third set, Frech won the last four games to secure the hard-fought victory.

–Field Level Media

Lone’er Kavanagh left former two-time UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno bloodied and bruised for an upset victory in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Mexico City.

England’s Kavanagh downed Mexico’s Moreno via unanimous decision in the non-title bout, securing the judges’ scorecards 49-46, 48-47, 48-47. Kavanagh was a late replacement for Asu Almabayev (23-3 MMA), who withdrew due to a hand injury, per a social media post on Feb. 3.

Kavanagh (10-1 MMA) dictated the fight early on, buckling Moreno (23-10-2 MMA) with a flurry of punches and kicks in Round 2. The pace slowed dramatically as the championship rounds (rounds 4 and 5 in traditional title fights and non-title main events) approached.

Kavanagh, 26, tipped his cap to Moreno, 32, calling him a “legend.”

“I said before the fight, I live for legendary moments,” Kavanagh said afterward. “This is a legendary moment. Brandon is a legend, a former two-time world champion.”

With only four UFC fights to his name, Kavanagh welcomes all challengers.

“Anyone can come and get it,” Kavanagh said.

Moreno has now lost back-to-back fights and three of his last five outings. He entered the fight ranked No. 6 in the flyweight division, a ranking he has hovered around since losing the title again in July 2023.

But for Kavanagh, a new era at 125 pounds may have just emerged.

A bantamweight co-main event featured Mexico’s David Martinez against a former UFC bantamweight title challenger in Marlon Vera.

Martinez (14-1 MMA) handed Vera (23-12-1 MMA) his fifth loss in his last six fights due in large part to a balanced attack of crisp striking, effortless wrestling and preserving energy when Vera pushed forward.

The unanimous decision win, all by 29-28 scores, extended Vera’s skid to four and could launch Martinez on the verge of stardom in the 135-pound division. Martinez has won 10 straight matches overall and is 3-0 in the UFC.

“I’ll be ready,” Martinez said after the fight, not hinting at future opponents.

An unexpected thriller saw King Green (formerly Bobby Green) secure a brutal TKO stoppage (strikes) against Mexico’s Daniel Zellhuber at lightweight.

Green (34-17, 1 NC MMA) used all but the last 5 seconds of the second round to send Zellhuber (15-3 MMA) to his third consecutive loss. Green, 39, said he would be open to fighting former “Ultimate Fighter” 5 winner Nate Diaz should Diaz return to the UFC in an intense post-fight talk from Green.

Diaz (21-13 MMA) has not fought for the promotion since September 2022, opting instead to box the likes of Jake Paul and former UFC welterweight title challenger and ex-“BMF” champion Jorge Masvidal (35-17 MMA).

More flyweight action took center stage as the main card moved along. In a split decision, Mexico’s Edgar Chairez edged Felipe Bunes in an all-action affair 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 in a fight that primarily stayed standing.

Chairez (13-6, 1 NC MMA), who has two straight and three of his last four bouts, is still chasing aspirations of winning a title in the near future. Bunes (14-9 MMA) has lost three of his last four fights.

Flyweights Imanol Rodriguez, in his UFC debut, and Kevin Borjas brought the Arena CMDX crowd to its feet as Borjas nearly won by first-round TKO.

The bout lasted to the second round and turned when an overhand right gave Rodriguez (7-0 MMA) his first win at MMA’s highest level and sixth overall KO/TKO finish at 4:21 of the round.

Borjas (10-5 MMA) has now lost four of his five UFC appearances, including a Nov. 2023 unanimous decision loss to current UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van (16-2 MMA) at UFC 295.

Bantamweight Santiago Luna used a mix of combinations to earn a unanimous decision against American Angel Pacheco, all by scores of 30-27, to begin the UFC Fight Night six-fight main card.

Luna (8-0 MMA) earned his second UFC win, while a resilient Pacheco (7-4 MMA) has not sniffed the win column since Aug. 2022 and has yet to find his footing in the promotion.

–Field Level Media