Dec. 6, 2008

Final Stats

The USD Toreros lost much more than just a game in tonight's city rivalry that saw the host Aztecs come away with a 57-46 victory. Senior guard Brandon Johnson, in attempting to coral a loose ball just past midcourt, suffered a ruptured left achilles tendon with 2:24 left in the first half and the Toreros trailing 31-24. It was Johnson that gave the Toreros a 5-0 lead out of the gates, but he will now be lost for the rest of the season. Johnson, who is expected to have surgery on Tuesday, finished the game with 10 points.

"We lose the guy that is kind of the heart and soul of this team," said head coach Bill Grier. "And he is a senior, and you lose him for the year. Right now the game isn't on my mind, it's him. This kid has done so much for this program and for him to have a senior year like this is devastating."

SDSU's Kyle Spain scored 16 points and Tim Shelton added 12 to lead the Aztecs to its third straight win over the Toreros, and sixth out of the last seven. Spain scored the first eight points for San Diego State (7-1), which took the lead for good midway through the first half en route to its sixth straight win.

USD came out of the locker room at halftime and Chris Lewis quickly buried a three to pull the Toreros to within 35-30. Over the next four minutes the Toreros would miss five shots, including three three-point attempts, and the Aztecs would increase their lead to 13 with 10:14 to go (49-36). The closest the Toreros would get the rest of the game was the final margin of 11 points.

Gyno Pomare turned in another solid outing as he tallied a team-high 17 points and 8 rebounds. He made 8-of-10 shots and added two blocked shots. Chris Lewis chipped in with 12 points. USD finished the game shooting 47.5% from the field, and turned the ball over 17 times.

USD will try to get back to their winning ways on Monday when they host San Jose State (2-3) in a 7 pm contest at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.