USDvsSJSU

ANCHORAGE (Nov. 27) -- Despite a season-high 21 points from senior wing Duda Sanadze, the Toreros dropped a hard-fought 76-67 contest to the San Jose State Spartans (2-3). Junior Brett Bailey chipped in with 10 points and 8 rebounds, but it was the Spartans that made the plays down the stretch to capture the win. SJSU was paced by forward Frank Rogers with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

In the first half the Toreros built up a 7-point lead (20-13) at 12:42 following two free throws by Bailey. Over the next six minutes the Spartans rallied to take a 31-25 lead after Rogers cashed in on a lay-in. Sanadze scored 7 points over the final 6:16 to help the Toreros battle back to a halftime tie at 38-all. Sanadze had 15 points at the break.

In the second half a steal and following lay-up by Vasa Pusica with 12:15 to go gave the Toreros a 52-46 advantage. A three-pointer by SJSU's Isaac Thornton with 9:54 to knotted the score at 53-all. USD would never gain the lead again with the closest deficit coming at 58-57 following two free throws from Marcus Harris.

For the game USD shot 46% from the field (23-50), made 6-of-19 treys (31.6%), but were just 15-26 from the free throw line. The Toreros held the edge in rebounding, 34-33, but turned the ball over 14 times to just 7 by the Spartans.

San Diego -- the runner-up in the 2009 GCI Shootout -- will play Drexel on Saturday at 1 p.m. (pacific). Drexel dropped a 71-65 contest to host Alaska Anchorage.