Nov. 2, 2003
Box Score
The USD men's basketball team opened up their season with the first of two exhibitions and came away with a 76-73 victory over the L.A. Stars this afternoon at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Newcomer Brice Vounang (20 points, 14 rebounds) and sophomore Nick Lewis (18 points, 11 rebounds) led the way for the Toreros. Trailing 73-72 with 1:44 to go, junior guard Mike McGrain canned a jumper with 1:21 left and then iced the game with two free throws with :14 seconds left. The Toreros play Cal Poly Pomona this coming Friday, Nov. 7th, in their second exhibition at 7:00 pm. Once again the game will be free to the public.
The Toreros, who at one time led by as many as 16 points (39-23) with just over 5 minutes to go in the first half, saw that lead shrink to one at 39-38 with :36 seconds left. Torero junior Corey Belser converted on a layup to give USD a 41-38 intermission lead. Early in the 2nd half USD jumped ahead by 7 points (50-43) on a trey by senior guard Brad Lechtenberg, but the L.A. Stars outscored USD 27-13 over the next 11 minutes for a 70-63 edge with 5:56 to play.
Derrick Anderson gave the Stars a 73-67 lead on a three-pointer with 4:38 to go, but that would be their final points of the game. From there USD's defense shut down the visitors and Nick Lewis converted two free throws; Brett Melton canned a key trey and McGrain put the final touches on the contest with the game's final four points.
For the game USD shot 40.6% from the field (26-64), 28.6% from three-point range (6x21) and a solid 78.3% from the charity stripe (18x23). McGrain also had a solid outing with 9 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals. The L.A. Stars were paced by Derrick Higgins (18 points), Derrick Anderson (17 points) and Jelani Janisse (16 points).
