Nov. 16, 2003
Box Score
The USD men's basketball team dropped a 65-60 decision to UC Irvine today in the consolation round of the 2003 Dell BCA Classic in Cincinnati, Ohio. With the loss USD falls to 0-2 and will take on either Ohio University or Coppin State in Monday's 12 noon game for 7th place. Junior center Brice Vounang led the Toreros with 16 points while Brett Melton (13 points) and Nick Lewis (11 points) also reached double-digits. UCI was paced by guard Jeff Gloger with 17 points. Once again, Monday's contest can be heard on ESPN 800 AM or via the internet here at www.usdtoreros.com.
The Toreros played much better against a very good team today after falling to Oakland University on Saturday. San Diego went up by as many as 13 points in the first half, the second time with 1:35 left to go on two Nick Lewis free throws that gave the Toreros a 31-18 edge. It was all UCI to close out the half as the Anteaters got a tip-in basket from Matt Okoro, a jumper from Jeff Gloger and a trey from Mike Efevberha with :03 seconds left that pulled them to within 6 points at 31-25.
In the second half UCI took their first lead of the game on a Gloger layup with 11:52 to go. UCI would go on to take a 10 point lead at 55-4 with 6:49 to go, but USD fought back. A Brad Lechtenberg trey with 2:54 left pulled the Toreros to within one at 58-57. Down 61-57 after a layup and 1-of-2 free throws from Adam Parada, Brice Vounang made two free throws to make it 61-59 with 1:17 to go. Nick Lewis was fouled with :18 seconds left but missed his first charity, and his 2nd make made the score 61-60. UCI's Jeff Gloger closed out the scoring making four straight free throws to put the game away. After his first two makes put the score at 63-60, the Toreros called a timeout and Brad Lechtenberg got off a trey from the right corner but was off the mark.
For the game USD shot 40.4% from the field and 43.8% from the three-point line. They converted 15-of-20 free throws for 75%. Vounang was the team's top rebounder with 7. UCI also got double digit scoring from Adam Parada (14) and Stanislav Zuzak (11).
