Jan. 16, 2010
Box Score
San Diego, Calif.- The University of San Diego men's basketball team fell to the #14 Gonzaga Bulldogs 68-50 on Saturday evening at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, losing their third consecutive game.
The Toreros (8-12, 1-3) could not answer Gonzaga's (14-3, 3-0) quick tempo throughout, as USD hit 34.5% (20-of-58) of their shots compared to the Bulldogs' 53.2% (25-of-47) field-goal shooting percentage.
Senior guard De'Jon Jackson scored a team-high 14 points to go along with his six rebounds. While going 7-of-10 from the charity stripe, senior guard Brandon Johnson added 13 points and four assists. Senior forward Roberto Mafra contributed 10 points and five rebounds.
After falling behind as much as five points in the early going of the first half, the Toreros used an 11-4 run in the middle of the opening period to place them in the lead. Mafra scored on a follow-up dunk to spark the run, while Chris Manresa drilled a long-distance two-pointer to even the score for the first time at 11 with 12:42 to go.
During the 11-4 stretch, the Toreros took their first lead of the game when Ken Rancifer grabbed an offensive rebound after a Johnson miss and threw down a thunderous dunk to put San Diego ahead 15-13.
Jackson improved the Toreros' advantage to its highest mark with a left-handed lay-up at the 7:35 mark. The 18-15 USD lead was quickly cancelled, however, by a 13-0 Gonzaga run that stretched over almost five minutes towards the end of the first half.
The Toreros fell behind 43-28 in the opening four minutes of the second half before USD used a stretch of 5-of-6 shooting from the field to trim the deficit to 47-40 with 13:18 remaining. Matt Dorr hit San Diego's only three during the 12-4 run, sinking the trey from the left corner with 15:19 left.
The seven-point disadvantage was the closest the Toreros would get in the final minutes, as they closed the game going 3-of-16 from the field.
The challenging stretch for the Toreros does not end yet as USD will head up north to take on St. Mary's on Thursday, January 21st. The game is set for an 8 p.m. start and can be seen on ESPNU.
