SAN FRANCISCO – Olin Carter hit a buzzer-beater at the end of regulation and
Isaiah Pineiro scored 28 points to lead San Diego to a dramatic 91-90 comeback victory in overtime at San Francisco on Thursday night in War Memorial Gymnasium.
The Toreros (18-12, 7-8 WCC) erased a 10-point deficit in the final 3:33 of regulation, capped by a Carter III 3-pointer bank-shot at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Pineiro scored all nine of USD's points in overtime to seal the Toreros comeback victory.
The win was USD's fourth straight against the Dons (21-8, 9-6 WCC).
The Toreros were impressive down the stretch in regulation, scoring 12 points in the final 1:22. Carter III led the way by scoring 10 of those 12 points.
Pineiro took over in overtime and outscored the Dons 9-8 in the extra period.
Pineiro finished the game with a game-high 28 points – two shy of his career high. He also pulled down 11 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season and eighth in the past nine games.
Isaiah Wright added 24 points – his most since Dec. 23 and one shy of his season high of 25. Carter III finished with 16 points.
It was a game filled with ups-and-downs, big momentum swings, 11 lead changes, and featured a little bit of everything.
The Toreros started hot in the first half, shooting 59 percent from the field and 63 percent (5-of-8) from behind the arc. Pineiro dropped 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and Wright added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the half.
Despite the hot start, the Toreros were unable to pull away from the Dons early as USF hit its first seven 3-pointers of the night and were 7-of-9 in the first half. The proficiency from deep kept the Dons within striking distance early. Charles Minlend led USF on the night with 22 points.
The Toreros finished the half on a 15-6 run and hit six of their final seven shots to take 41-36 lead into halftime.
USD saw its advantage disappear early in the second half as USF opened on a 12-4 run to take the lead, 48-47.
The Toreros ran into foul trouble early in the second half as well with Pineiro, Wright, Carter and
Alex Floresca all playing with three fouls with 11:42 to play. Pineiro, Wright and Carter all had four fouls with 6:50 remaining in regulation.
Midway through the second half, USF had attempted more free throws in the second half (18) than the Toreros had attempted in the entire game (16).
The Dons took their largest lead of the night 68-58 with 6:50 to play and led by that much as late as 3:33 remaining in regulation.
The Toreros chipped away at the deficit and closed the final 3 1/2 minutes on a 17-7 run.
With USD trailing 77-70, Carter III took over the final 1:22 beginning with a layup to cut the deficit to five.
The Toreros were gifted two free throws and a possession when the Dons Frankie Ferrari threw a blatant elbow that connected with the side of
Finn Sullivan's head with 55 seconds on the clock. Ferrari was charged with a flagrant one and Sullivan knocked down the free throws to cut USD's deficit to 78-74.
Carter III delivered another layup before knocking down a tough 3-pointer with a defender in his face with nine seconds on the clock to pull the Toreros to within 81-79.
The Toreros fouled Ferrari and he made one of two. Carter III knocked down the buzzer-beating 3-pointer on the ensuing possession.
USF jumped out to a five-point lead midway through the overtime period but Pineiro finished the game on a 6-0 run to seal the 91-90 victory for the Toreros.
USD will look to continue its momentum as it concludes its regular season Saturday at BYU at 6 p.m. PT.
