Feb. 11, 2006

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(San Diego, Calif.) - The USD Toreros rallied in the 2nd half to claim a 71-68 home win over the USF Dons to take sole possession of 3rd place in the WCC standings. Junior Nir Cohen made some clutch plays down the stretch and finished with 13 points to lead the Torero comeback. Ross DeRogatis also gave USD a big spark with all of his 15 points coming in the final 20 minutes. Freshman center Gyno Pomare also reached double digits with 12 points and 5 rebounds. With the win the Toreros improve to 16-7 overall and 6-4 in league. The Dons fall to 9-14 and 5-5. These two teams will meet up again on Monday night in San Francisco at USF's War Memorial Gymnasium.

In the first half the visiting Dons jumped out to a 6-0 lead and it wasn't until the 9:47 mark that USD tooks its first lead at 16-15 on a Pomare jumper. USF jumped ahead by 5 points twice more, but a Cohen layup and Brandon Johnson layup put the Toreros ahead again at 29-27 with 4:58 to go. USF's Dommanic Ingerson answered with a trey and USF held the lead until Johnson made another layup with 2:09 to go to make it 33-32. Neither team would score before intermission.

In the 2nd half the USF Dons took control throughout the first 7 minutes of play in building a 49-40 advantage at the 13:17 mark on two free throws by Danny Cavic. USD's DeRogatis answered with a three-pointer, and was fouled on the play, cashing in on his free throw to complete the four-point play. The game could have gone either way down the stretch but the Toreros were the team to come up with the big plays. Cohen nailed a trey with 3:18 to go to put USD up 69-62. He took a charge against USF's Armondo Surratt at a key time, and calmly sank two free throws with :06 seconds left to ice the game at 71-68. USF's Ingerson attempted a three at the buzzer but Travis Smith, inserted just seconds earlier for defensive purposes, got a hand on the ball for the block.

The Toreros shot 51.9% from the field for the game, and canned 7-of-15 three-pointers. USD's Nick Lewis, the team's leading scorer, was held scoreless as he attempted just 3 shots on the night. USF was paced by Alan Wiggins with 17 points and 11 rebounds.