No. 17 Gonzaga takes care of business and wins its second Old Spice Classic title

Nov 25, 2012, 10:14 PM EDT

There were two firsts in the history of the Old Spice Classic in Sunday’s title game between No. 17 Gonzaga and Davidson. It was the first final that matched schools from non-BCS AQ leagues, and the Bulldogs became the first program to win the event twice.

Elias Harris posted his second double-double of the season with 24 points and ten rebounds, and Kevin Pangos added 23 in Gonzaga’s 81-67 victory over the reigning Southern Conference champions.

Nik Cochran paced the Wildcats with 17 points and forwards Jake Cohen (13 points, six rebounds) and De’Mon Brooks (12 points, six rebounds) both reached double figures as well. But it wasn’t enough for Davidson on a night that saw the Bulldogs shoot 55% from the field and out-rebound the Wildcats 35-29.

Another positive for Gonzaga this weekend was the play of redshirt junior forward Kelly Olynyk. Seeing his first action of the season in Orlando, Olynyk was productive in all three games and accounted for 14 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots against Davidson.

Adding the 7-footer to the fold gives Mark Few another option to turn to on the bench, and Olynyk certainly didn’t look rusty this weekend.

A Cochran three-pointer with 15:39 remaining in the first half gave Davidson a 13-4 lead on Gonzaga, but the Bulldogs rattled off ten of the next 12 points to cut the deficit to one (15-14) by the next television timeout. Later in the half Gonzaga went on a 15-0 run, but six points from Jordan Barham pulled Davidson to within 33-24 at the intermission.

Bob McKillop’s team kept fighting in the second half, pulling even at 51-all on a Brooks layup with 9:23 remaining, but they couldn’t get over the hump as Pangos got hot from deep. The sophomore made four of his five three-pointers over a three-minute stretch to give Gonzaga some much-needed breathing room, and then Harris and Olynyk went on to score Gonzaga’s next 14 points.

Davidson is a team that no one will want to see on their bracket should the Wildcats do what’s expected of them and repeat as Southern Conference champions.

As for Gonzaga, they didn’t do much this weekend to dissuade those who believe the Bulldogs are capable of getting to the Final Four.

Raphielle also writes for the NBE Basketball Report and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.