Pangos helps Gonzaga roll past Saint Mary's

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - Spokane, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Pangos is new to the Gonzaga-Saint Mary's rivalry. With performances like Thursday's, he could be an integral player for years to come.

The freshman was 5-for-6 from long distance as part of a 27-point night, leading Gonzaga past No. 16 Saint Mary's, 73-59.

Pangos' freshman teammate Gary Bell Jr. donated 12 points, while veterans Robert Sacre and Elias Harris chipped in with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

"We came out and played the way we wanted to play. We were tough, we were poised, and that's what we wanted to do," Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said.

Gonzaga (19-4, 9-2 WCC) has won two straight since a loss to BYU, but still needs help to continue its streak of 11 straight league crowns. The Bulldogs still sit one game behind the Gaels in the league race.

Matthew Dellavedova led Saint Mary's (22-3, 11-1) with 20 points, while Jorden Page added 11 and Brad Waldow posted 10 points in the Gaels' first league loss. The defeat snapped a 12-game winning streak that included a 21-point waxing of these same Bulldogs back on January 12.

The two teams traded blows in the opening half, as Gonzaga opened a narrow 10-6 edge on Sacre's bucket, but Saint Mary's withstood the early emotion and claimed an advantage at 17-16 on Brad Waldow's layup. The lead grew to 20-16, but Gonzaga went on a 10-1 run to regain its footing and the lead. Pangos drained a trey and Bell made two free throws to stamp the surge.

The lead grew to as many as five down the stretch, and the Gonzaga lead stood at 34-31 at the half. The Gaels drew even at 38-38 in the early stages of the second half, but it was all downhill from there.

The Bulldogs lead became five at 45-40 on Sacre's free throw, and six quick points a few moments later pushed the advantage to double digits at 59-49 on Pangos' fourth three-pointer of the game from the left corner. Pangos again connected from long range with just over six minutes to go for a 62-51 game, and the margin reached a dozen, 65-53, when Stockton penetrated and found Harris for a bucket from in close.

"We felt good at the half and for the first 30 minutes of the game, but we didn't sustain it down the stretch," St. Mary's head coach Randy Bennett said.

Game Notes

Gonzaga made 52.8 percent of its shots and seven three-pointers...Saint Mary's, which came into the game shooting better than 37 percent from long distance on the season, made just 5-of-21 for 23.8 percent...Gonzaga leads the all-time series, 54-26.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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