SAN DIEGO – USD men's basketball bounced back with a home win Saturday evening, 78-69 over Northern Arizona inside the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
Improved shooting was the difference for the Toreros, who collect their fourth win of the season, first of December. San Diego went 10-23 (43.3%) from beyond the arc, an overall 50% from the field in a game in which it led for all but four minutes.
 
Junior guard Ty-Laur Johnson led the way for the hosts with a USD season-high 23 points on six made field goals, drawing 10 fouls and going 10-12 from the free throw line, adding four assists without any turnovers as he found success getting to the rim.
 
Grad guards Toneari Lane and Adrian McIntyre were crucial off the bench as the latter posted 10 points, a major part in a game-icing run, and Lane took all of his shots from behind the arc, at a 5-for-9 clip to finish with 15 points for a third time this season.
 
How it Happened

• Head Coach Steve Lavin made one change to his starting lineup from Tuesday's defeat to USC, plugging in junior forward Vuk Boskovic
• A slow shooting start for both sides was refreshed by the first subs off the bench
• USD then went on to make four straight attempted threes as the nation's 12^th-ranked team in free throw percentage got into the bonus early
• That factored into the launching of a 10-0, 15-3 run for the Toreros to lead by as much as 13
• Freshman guard Brandon Benjamin made an impact off the bench, posting seven points in just over six minutes
• San Diego held NAU scoreless from the field for the last 4:16 of the first half, seeing the Toreros hold a 40-29 at the break
• The Lumberjacks stayed in the game and even cut the lead down to one in the early stages of the second period following empty USD possessions
• The mostly back-and-forth second half was put to an end by a quick 9-0 Torero run led by Johnson and McIntyre to put the hosts back up by 12 with a minute remaining
• San Diego held out for the 78-69 victory at the final buzzer

 
Notable

• USD improves to 8-0 all-time over Northern Arizona when playing on their home floor, an overall fifth straight win for a 12-8 series record
• The Toreros have scored exactly 78 points in three of its four wins on the season
• It was San Diego's first time shooting over 40% (43.3%) from deep since its Nov. 12 victory over Idaho
• USD has forced 17-plus turnovers out of its opponents in each of the last three games in December: 17 vs. NAU (Dec. 13), 21 vs. USC (Dec. 9) and 22 at San Jose State (Dec. 5)

 
Up Next
The Toreros have six days of prep ahead of them before taking on cross-town rival UC San Diego in a Quad-1 opportunity inside the Tritons' LionTree Arena on Friday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.