Jan. 11, 2009
Final Stats
(Santa Clara, CA) - The USD Toreros earned a 55-50 come-from-behind victory at Santa Clara on Sunday afternoon to improve their season mark to 10-7 overall, and 2-0 in the WCC Standings. For the second straight contest the USD defense stepped up and held its opponent to 50 points. Unlike its 65-50 win over USF where San Diego shot 57% and canned 8-of-16 threes, the Toreros struggled offensively against the always hard-nosed Broncos. Senior Gyno Pomare battled SCU's big man John Bryant for most of the contest - Pomare finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds; Bryant totaled 19 points and 12 boards. Rob Jones finished strong down the stretch and chipped in with 17 points.
USD has now won 4 straight and 6 of 7 as they return home for three straight league games beginning this Thursday with Pepperdine. In this contest the Toreros found themselves down 48-45 with 1:41 to go. Rob Jones cut it to one at 48-47 on a lay-up with 1:18 left. With :38 ticks left, Trumaine Johnson was called for a foul against Perry Petty, but on the same play Petty was called for a technical foul in response to and elbow to Johnson. USD's Pomare canned both technical shots, and Petty converted both of his charities at his end of the floor.
With SCU holding onto a 51-50 advantage, Trumaine Johnson connected on a driving push-shot inside the key with :30 seconds to go. Bronco guard Kevin Foster turned the ball over and after Matt Dorr retrieved the loose ball, was fouled by Ben Dowdell. Dorr made both of his free throws for a 53-50 lead with :14 seconds to go. The game ended with Rob Jones canning two charities with :01 left for the five point victory.
USD scored a season-low 17 points in the first half but found itself down just six at 23-17. For the game USD connected on 19-of-50 (38%). Besides Bryant, SCU received 10 points from Marc Trasolini and Perry Petty. USD got a boost from senior guard Danny Brown (5 points, 19 minutes) as he played most of his minutes in the 2nd half after DeJon Jackson left the game with a shoulder injury.
