SAN DIEGO – San Diego could not overcome a 21-point halftime deficit despite outscoring Santa Clara in the second half as the Toreros lost their second game of the year to the Broncos, 65-52, on Saturday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
USD (8-14, 1-6 WCC) suffered a 17-2 run to end the first half and only made three three-pointers on 21 attempts (14.3%) for the entire game to drop a contest coming off a Thursday bye. The Toreros were limited to six field goals in the first half, tied for their fewest this season.
 
James Jean-Marie led the Toreros in scoring for the second time this year by contributing a career high-tying 14 points, 11 of which were scored in the second half. The junior had four rebounds and a career-high three blocks.
 
Yauhen Massalski matched Jean-Marie in blocks with three while also pacing the team in rebounds with 10. It was the junior's second straight game with 10 or more boards.
 
Joey Calcaterra was the only other Torero to reach double-figures in scoring with 12.
 
Calcaterra had the only three-pointer for USD in the first half, which came at the 16:18 mark for the first Torero points of the game. The Toreros finished the first half 1-of-10 from long distance, but a four-plus minute stretch in which they missed four treys (five shots total) allowed Santa Clara (17-5, 4-3 WCC) to take an 11-point lead at 21-10 with 9:43 remaining.
 
The Toreros were able to cut it 21-15 thanks to a driving layup by Noel Coleman and an assist by the freshman on a fastbreak dunk by Jean-Marie 28 seconds later. However, the Broncos closed out the first half by making five of their last 10 field goal attempts and scoring 17 of the last 19 points.
 
In the second, USD outscored Santa Clara, 35-27, and cooled the Broncos offense to 37.5% shooting from the field (9-of-24). The Toreros, though, only shot 36.4% (12-of-33) and could not dismantle what was at one point a 25-point deficit.
 
The Broncos made it 48-23 at 14:49 mark, but a 15-2 USD run, sparked by five straight points from Finn Sullivan, put the Toreros down 50-38 and forced Santa Clara to call a timeout. The Broncos responded, though, with a quick 5-0 run out of the break that stretched their lead back out to 17 points.
 
The Toreros will stay at home for their next game, a Thursday, January 30 matchup against San Francisco at 7 p.m.
 
 
NOTES
Both sides tied in rebounding, 35-35, and turnovers, 19-19.
 
The three-block game by Yauhen Massalski was the 16th of his career. He has 112 blocks in his career, which are fifth-most in program history.
 
Joey Calcaterra has double-digit points in three consecutive games and 15 contests overall this year.
 
Finn Sullivan matched his career-high in rebounds with seven.
 
The trio of three-pointers made tied USD's fewest in a game this year. It has made three three-pointers in a game three times.