SAN FRANCISCO—San Diego had three players score double-digits but a late run by San Francisco proved costly in a 70-62 loss on Thursday afternoon at War Memorial Gym.
 
The Toreros (1-4, 0-1 WCC) shot 45 percent from the field and stood toe-to-toe with the Dons (7-4, 1-0 WCC) in a back-and-forth game that saw 10 ties and 11 lead changes. The teams battled to a 49-49 tie before USF went on a 17-3 run to take a commanding lead with 2:26 remaining.
 
USD mounted a late comeback, cutting the lead to six with under a minute to go but could not complete the comeback.
 
Josh Parrish put together one of his strongest performances yet as a Torero, leading USD with 15 points and eight rebounds. Joey Calcaterra recorded his fifth double-digit game, finishing with 14 points and Yauhen Massalski scored 12 points and added five rebounds on the day.
 
The Toreros played tough defense, holding the Dons to their second-lowest three-point total of the season and 41 percent from the field. USF who came in averaging 11.7 threes per game, was held to just 6-of-20 from beyond the arc.
 
The teams traded shots early to begin the contest, before the Toreros surged on an 11-0 run to lead 27-17 with 4:29 to go in the first half.
 
San Diego forced eight first-half turnovers, however, a late USD scoring drought allowed the Dons to pull even at 28-28 with under a minute to play in the period. A quick three by Calcaterra with 35 seconds to go gave the Toreros the slight lead, 31-30, at the half.
 
The Dons jumped out to a 41-35 lead in the first five minutes of the second half, but USD answered with a three from Frankie Hughes, a three-point play by Parrish and a layup by Vladimir Pinchuk to pull in front again at 43-41.
 
The teams traded the lead back-and-forth to a 49-49 tie before the Dons surged on a 17-3 run to take a commanding lead with under three minutes to play. USD chipped away in the closing minutes, outscoring San Francisco 7-2 to make it a two-possession game with under a minute to play. However, two made free throws by USF effectively iced the comeback in the closing seconds.
 
The Dons won the rebounding battle 38-33 and outscored the Toreros 10-2 in second chance points, with seven offensive rebounds compared to three for USD. San Diego held the slight advantage in the paint 34-32 but struggled from the line, shooting just 9-of-15 compared to 18-of-24 for the Dons.
 
Next up, the Toreros will return home to take on BYU on Saturday (Jan. 2) in the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The game is set to tip off at 5 p.m. on the WCC Network.