Final Stats
(San Diego, CA) - The USD Toreros (8-4) won their sixth straight game, and improved to 5-0 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, with today's 81-70 win over the Furman Paladins (5-5). Sophomore point guard Brandon Johnson matched his career-high of 24 points, and Gyno Pomare came off the bench to total 17 points and 8 rebounds in just 24 minutes of action. USD shot 50.9% from the floor for the game and outrebounded Furman, 41-28. The six straight wins match USD's streak from early last season, and the Toreros are off now until Dec. 22nd when they host a very good UC Santa Barbara club in a 7 pm contest at the JCP.
"Nineteen short days ago we were 2-4, and now we are 8-4," stated a happy Brad Holland. "This is a confident team. I told our kids that we are really proud of them. To get on a roll, 6 in-a-row, shows how far they have come since our San Antonio trip. Furman is a very good and balanced team, and this felt like a conference win. Brandon had a real good all-around game. He penetrated their defense at will and put pressure on them. That opened it up for a lot of our guys."
In the first half the Toreros found themselves down 11-8 three minutes into the game, but rallied to go up by eight at 23-15 on a three-pointer by Daniel Fleming with 9:23 to go. Furman answered with a 7-0 run to get within one, but a Chris Lewis layup ended their streak. The Paladins kept battling and tied the game at 27-27 on a Stanley Jones layup, but a traditional three-point play by Brandon Johnson pushed USD back up 30-27 with just over 2 minutes left. Furman ended the half on a 8-3 run for a 35-33 lead.
In the 2nd half Brandon Johnson scored the first five points to put USD up 38-35 and the Toreros never trailed again. USD would go up by as many as 12 points at 57-45 with 12:09 to go, but Furman would get within 6 points on two occasions. Each time Gyno Pomare answered; the first time with back-to-back baskets, and the last time with two free throws for a 71-63 edge with 2:31 left. From there USD closed out the game with a 10-7 point differential.
For the game USD also got double digit scoring from Ross DeRogatis (12 points) and Chris Lewis (11 points), while Theo White also contributed some key minutes (6 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals). Furman was paced by center Moussa Diagne with 16 points.
