STOCKTON, Calif. – Braun Hartfield scored a career-high 27 points and San Diego was within four with 42 seconds remaining, but Pacific converted a three-point play with just over 30 seconds left to help put the Toreros away with a 66-58 decision on Saturday at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
 
USD (8-16, 1-8 WCC) pulled within one on two different occasions in the second half, including at 48-47 with 4:51 left, but the Tigers (17-8, 5-4 WCC) made their final five field goals in the last five minutes to hand the Toreros their third-straight loss.
 
The Toreros were down by eight with a minute-and-a-half left, but Finn Sullivan, who had all 11 of his points in the second half, hit a jumper and was followed by a five-second violation on the subsequent in-bound by Pacific to give the ball back to the Toreros. Hartfield sank a jumper off the turnover, and the Toreros trailed 59-55 with 56 seconds remaining.
 
After Pacific sank both of its free throws on the following possession, Marion Humphrey faked a handoff and drove in for an open dunk and return the deficit back to 61-57 with 42 seconds left. The Toreros called a timeout after the Humphrey slam, and the Tigers were able to draw an and-one on the next possession on a converted lay-up by Daniss Jenkins, who finished the play with a free throw that put the Tigers up 64-57.
 
Pacific was 8-of-9 in free throws in the final three minutes and 15-of-20 for the game. The Toreros, meanwhile, were 12-of-22 at the line.
 
Hartfield scored 14 of USD's 24 points in the first half to help give him his fourth 20-point effort of the season. The redshirt junior was 10-of-18 from the field (55.6%) and 3-of-7 from three-point range. He also had seven rebounds.
 
The Toreros opened the game 0-of-10 from the field until Hartfield made a lay-up eight minutes in, and they trailed by as much as 12 when Jahbril Price-Noel hit a field goal to make it 20-8 Pacific with 8:33 left in the first half.
 
USD trimmed the deficit of a dozen to two when Hartfield scored his 14th point of the first half at the 3:00 mark to make it 26-24. However, the Toreros missed their last five shots of the half while the Tigers used a pair of free throws and two lay-ups to take an eight-point lead into halftime.
 
Pacific started the second half 1-of-12, allowing USD to pull within one when Sullivan hit a three-pointer, the third of the Toreros' four in the game, and make it 36-35 Pacific with 12 minutes remaining. The Tigers went five minutes without a point until Price-Noel sank a jumper to put Pacific up 38-35 at the 11:35 mark.
 
Pacific stretched out its lead to 44-36 with another field goal by Price-Noel, who finished with a team-high 16 points. Nearly three minutes later, though, Sullivan went on to score six straight points for the Toreros and pull USD back within one at 48-47 with 4:51 left.
 
Sullivan joined Hartfield as the only Toreros in double-digits in scoring. The sophomore was 5-of-9 shooting and added three steals.
 
The Toreros next play on Thursday when they face Saint Mary's for the first time with an 8 p.m. game on ESPN2 or ESPNU.
 
 
NOTES
Of Hartfield's three 20-point games, three have come in nine conference contests.
 
Sullivan has four double-digit scoring games in the last six contests. He is averaging 12.0 points over the stretch.
 
USD has lost six straight at Pacific and is 2-10 all-time in Stockton. The last time the Toreros won on the road in the series was 2014.
 
After starting the game 0-of-10, USD finished the first half 7-of-17 (41%) from the field. It was 14-of-31 in the entire second half (45.2%).