STOCKTON, CA –  A balanced effort led the San Diego men's basketball team (11-8, 4-2 WCC) to a win at Pacific (5-12, 0-3 WCC) on Saturday, 73-65.
 
Senior forward Marcellus Earlington led the Toreros with 23 points, shooting 8-of-16 from the floor. Earlington added six rebounds and two steals.
 
Freshman Wayne McKinney III totaled 16 points, a career-high six assists, and five rebounds.
 
Junior Yavuz Gultekin added nine points and three rebounds in the win, including a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
 
Graduate Terrell Brown-Soares contributed eight points (4-of-6 FG) and a team-high eight rebounds in 20 minutes.
 
San Diego improves to 11-8 (4-2 WCC) on the season, and will play its third road game in five days at Pacific on Monday.    
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Earlington assisted on a McKinney triple then scored seven straight points to put USD up 10-3 early.
• Pacific battled back and took an 18-17 lead after a 7-0 run, but Gultekin answered with a corner triple to go back ahead.
• With just over five minutes to play in the first half, Pacific got fouled from long range and made all three free throws to cut its deficit to 31-29. The Toreros answered with five straight points, including layups from McKinney and Earlington.
• TJ Berger extended San Diego's lead with back-to-back triples. A late jumper from Gultekin gave USD a 44-35 lead at halftime.
• After a Townsend three-pointer put San Diego up 52-39, Pacific responded with an 8-0 run.
• The Tigers eventually cut the deficit to three with 3:36 remaining, but McKinney buried a timely three-pointer to fend off the opponent.
• Pacific hit two free throws with a minute left to make it 68-65, but USD scored the final five points of the game, including a layup from Earlington. Gultekin made two free throws and Parrish added another over the last 16 seconds to secure the win. 

TORERO TIDBITS

• Earlington went into double-figures for a team-leading 15^th time this season. He also has five games with 10+ points. Earlington is averaging 14.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest.
• McKinney notched double-figures for the fourth time this season. He was one point shy of his career-high of 17.
• San Diego made 26-of-57 (45.6%) field goals, 8-of-17 (47.1%) three-pointers, and 13-of-17 (76.5%) free throws.
• Josh Parrish registered four points, five rebounds, and four assists.

UP NEXT
USD will travel to Santa Clara on Monday for a 6:00 PM matchup. The Broncos hold a 51-39 lead in the all-time series, but the Toreros won the most recent matchup in February 2021 at Santa Clara. Joey Calcaterra scored a career-high 23 points in the win, while Vladimir Pinchuk recorded 13 points and 10 rebounds.