Dec. 22, 2006
Final Stats
(San Diego, CA) - The USD Toreros (9-4) continued their winning streak with an impressive 81-63 home win over the visiting UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (8-3). It was the team's 7th straight win while UCSB suffered their first road loss in six tries. Gyno Pomare and Ross DeRogatis shared game-high scoring honors with 19 points each, and Brandon Johnson turned in a solid all-around game with 13 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals. Chris Lewis chipped in with 14 points and 7 rebounds, and Nir Cohen came back from missing the last 10 games with a broken left hand, to total 10 points and dish out 4 assists. After Christmas USD will try to end the month of December on a perfect note as they travel to Fresno State for a Dec. 30th contest at 7 pm.
"I told our guys all week that this was a statement game," said head coach Brad Holland. "They responded with an outstanding effort, especially on the defensive end. UC Santa Barbara came here with a 5-0 road record and are the favorite to win the Big West. This is a big win for us."
In the first half the game was close throughout with both sides holding 3 point leads through the first 18 minutes. A Nir Cohen three-pointer with 1:21 left gave USD a 32-26 advantage, and he added one more trey with three ticks left to give the Toreros a 35-28 halftime lead. For USD in the first half, Gyno Pomare scored 13 points in 15 minutes, and Cohen sparked the team with 6 points in 7 minutes of action.
In the 2nd half the Toreros were paced by Ross DeRogatis who bombed in 15 of his 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting beyond the three-point arc. Controlling the tempo of the game, and playing some excellent defense, was Brandon Johnson. UCSB guard Alex Harris, who came into the game averaging 22 points, was held to 10 points. Forward Chris Devine led the Gauchos with 12 points. For the game USD outrebounded UCSB, 38-30, and finished with 19 assists and 8 steals.
