Double Overtime Trumps A Potential Danceoff

Pun City again apologizes for the extreme negligence. Back to the Conference Tournament trip. March 9th, the 3rd day of the trip.

This was a Sunday, and Pun City's host was free as well. She graciously offered to show this blog a "local beach" since she was heading there for a swim anyway. Seal Beach is a pretty good spot, this blog enjoyed the laziness the seals exhibited. Since the water was about 60 degrees and Pun City didn't have a wet suit (unlike its host), this blog chose to forego the Pacific, at least for more than a couple seconds.

After the beach, Pun City headed to Torrey Pines, a nearby golf course and home to the 2008 US Open. That was a pretty cool spot, the gift shop worker encouraged this blog to grab a couple free scorecards and golf pencils. On the way between the golf course and USD for the semifinal games, Pun City spotted an In-N-Out Burger. That's always a fantastic sight.

Free bumper stickers, location guide, and some very affordable burgers and fries were pretty sweet. Pun City hadn't gotten to an In-N-Out in a while, so this was a nice stop. It was also nice to be eating outdoors on March 9th.

At USD, the fans were primed for two semifinal matchups with the top 4 seeds. Gonzaga was taking on 4th-seeded Santa Clara, followed by #2 Saint Mary's vs. #3 San Diego. Gonzaga's huge crowd took to chanting "Where are your fans?" (Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap). The Geico Gecko was back with thunder sticks, however after handing them all out, the Geico crew found out they don't allow noisemakers in the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Whoops.

Despite shooting poorly, Gonzaga pulled out the victory, 52-48. San Diego's crowd was rowdy, and watching their team take their home floor in road jerseys since they were the lower seed. Saint Mary's was in control, leading by 15 with 14:59 remaining in regulation. The Gaels frittered away the lead, though, and USD forced overtime.

The overtime wasn't enough to settle it, so double OT commenced. By this time, Pun City was situated near the Torero dance team, who suggested that the game be settled by a "dance off." The amusing suggestion was not taken. However, the Toreros did close out the game in double overtime, leading by 7 with 1:45 left in the 2nd extra frame.

By this time, the arena was about half full, both teams were exhausted, and it was 2:00 AM Central, so Pun City was dragging. But a very cool final, Gonzaga vs. San Diego, would be taking place tomorrow night. This would be the most well-attended game of the tournament, given the huge fan bases involved with each of the finalists.

Pun City was looking forward to enjoying the title game the next day, and also looking forward to only having one game.