Feb. 12, 2011
Final Stats
SANTA CLARA, Calif.- The University of San Diego men's basketball team fell 60-56 to Santa Clara in a West Coast Conference road matchup Saturday evening. Despite a 14-point halftime lead, the Toreros (5-21, 1-10 WCC) were unable to close out the Broncos (16-11, 6-4 WCC) on their home floor.
Senior guard Devin Ginty matched his career-high with 23 points on the night, the second time he's posted that total on the season. Ginty was 6-10 from the field and 3-6 from beyond the arc, while also connecting on eight of nine free throw attempts. Sophomore forward/center Chris Manresa added nine points and a career-high 14 rebounds for the Toreros.
Santa Clara was led by their leading scorer on the season, Kevin Foster, who scored 21 points while adding three rebounds and three assists. Evan Roquemore chipped in with 12 points and a team-high four assists and Troy Payne recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists in the win.
It was a tale of opposites between the two halves, as USD shot a solid 50% (11-22) from the field in the first half, but struggled to find the bottom of the net in the second, going 6-21 (28.6%). Conversely, the Broncos, who connected at a 22.7% (5-22) clip from the field in the first half, got hot in the second, shooting 55.6% (15-27) after the intermission.
The Toreros ended the first half with a 32-18 advantage, only to be outscored by Santa Clara in the second half 42-24, despite the Broncos' woes from the free throw line. Santa Clara shot 51.7% (15-29) from the charity stripe on the night, compared to the Toreros' 81% (17-21), including a perfect 10-10 from the line in the second half.
USD opened the contest with six different players scoring the first six Torero baskets en route to an early 12-6 lead at the 13:55 mark. The Toreros would hold the lead for the entire first half. The Broncos cut the USD lead to three with just over 12 minutes to play, but the Toreros would mount a 7-0 run capped off by a jumper from Trevor Fuller, who had six points off the bench.
The teams would trade baskets until USD got back-to-back layups from Cameron Miles and Manresa, putting them up 27-14 with 3:49 remaining in the half. Santa Clara converted four straight free throw attempts to bring them within nine, but Ginty knocked down his second three-pointer, followed by Fuller jumper, to put the Toreros up 32-18 at the break.
USD kept its momentum going after halftime by jumping out to a 40-20 lead within the first four minutes of the half. A turnover by Norris led to a Foster three and a quick eight-point swing for the Broncos, who cut the lead to 40-28 at the 15:20 mark.
The Torero lead hovered around 12 points until Foster's free throw at 12:10 jumpstarted a 16-3 Bronco outburst that was fueled by seven Torero turnovers over an eight-minute span. The run tied the game at 49 with 4:34 to play, marking the first point in the game that USD had not led.
A Roquemore three at 3:55 gave Santa Clara its first lead of the game. Ken Rancifer, who had four points on the night, answered with his lone three of the game to give USD a two point lead, but the two teams would wrestle the lead back and forth until the Broncos captured the lead for good on another three from Roquemore with 41 seconds remaining.
The Toreros return to the Jenny Craig Pavilion next Wednesday, Feb. 16th when they welcome the Saint Mary's Gaels for an 8:00 p.m. matchup to be aired on ESPN2.
