Oct. 31, 2007
Box Score
(San Diego, CA) - The USD men's basketball team dealt Point Loma Nazarene a 75-61 loss in tonight's exhibition game at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. It was first-year head coach Bill Grier's first glimpse of his young squad in action and he was able to see twelve of his players compete. Junior guard Brandon Johnson led the way with 16 points and 6 assists in 33 minutes of action, while three other returners reached double-digit figures. Junior center Gyno Pomare totaled 10 points and 8 boards in 20 minutes of playing time; junior guard Danny Brown totaled 12 points; and sophomore guard De'Jon Jackson chipped in with 11 points and 7 rebounds. After a slow start by both teams, USD jumped out to a 25-8 advantage. Point Loma battled back and cut the halftime score to 44-37 as Curtis Carlson scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the first half.
Point Loma competed well throughout the second half and the Toreros were able to pull away down the stretch. USD freshman forward Rob Jones played 26 minutes and pulled down a team-high 9 rebounds to go with 4 points. Freshman point guard Trumaine Johnson chipped in with 8 points, and 6-10 center Nathan Lozeau tallied 5 points in 9 minutes of play.
As a team the Toreros shot 48.2% from the floor (27-56) and 66.7% from the charity stripe (16-24). USD also outrebounded the Sea Lions, 40-36. USD dished out 17 assists and tallied 7 steals, but also turned the ball over 17 times. Besides Carlson's 20 points, PLNU received 15 points from Josh Sanderson.
The Toreros will return to the JCP this Sunday to face Occidental College in their second and final exhibition in a 2 p.m. contest. USD's season opener is Nov. 9th at Hawaii.
