Toreros toughen up
San Diego’s rediscovered energy – particularly on the defensive end of the court – was a huge factor once again, but the Toreros still needed a couple of breaks and a couple of late free throws from Nir Cohen to slip past San Francisco 62-59 in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament.
The win, which came in front of a McCarthey Athletic Center crowd of 4,185, moved fifth-seeded USD (18-11) into today’s 5 p.m. semifinal against regular-season league champion and top-seeded Gonzaga (25-3).
And it sent the fourth-seeded Dons (11-17) home to start thinking about next year.
“This was obviously a defensive battle,” said Toreros coach Brad Holland, who brought his team into the tournament on a four-game losing streak, only to aggressively dispose of eighth-seeded Pepperdine in Friday’s opening round. “Our team, at the end of the day, dug out just enough stops and boards to finish off San Francisco.”
San Diego, after taking a 34-31 halftime lead on Corey Belser’s desperation fling – while falling down just inside the 3-point line, opened up a 58-49 advantage on a Travis Smith tip-in with just under 6 minutes left. But USF strung together 10 unanswered points to take a 59-58 lead and set the stage for a strange finish that included a suspect goal-tending call on USF’s Alan Wiggins that led to a Gyno Pomare basket and a 60-59 USD lead.
The Dons turned the ball over on their ensuing possession and then put Cohen at the foul line with 26 seconds remaining. The Toreros’ junior center bricked both free throws, but teammate Belser managed to jump above the rebounding crowd and tip the ball back out to halfcourt, where it was chased down by USD’s Brandon Johnson.
USF immediately fouled Cohen again, but this time he made both foul shots to put the Toreros up by three with 19 seconds left. And the game ended with San Francisco misfiring on a couple of well-contested shot justs before the final buzzer.
“That was a key play on the missed free throws – for Corey to tip it out and us get another possession,” said Holland, who then calmed Cohen down during a timeout and reminded him that he had made two late free throws to help beat USF earlier in the year.
“Now you need to do it again,” Holland told Cohen.
And he did.
San Diego 62, USF 59
San Diego (18-11) – Belser 3-6 2-2 9, Cohen 5-10 2-5 13, N.Lewis 6-11 3-4 17, DeRogatis 1-8 0-0 3, Murdock 1-4 0-0 2, Johnson 1-3 2-2 4, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Pomare 6-10 0-0 12, Smith 1-2 0-1 2. Totals 24-54 9-14 62.
San Francisco (11-17) – Wiggins Jr. 5-5 2-2 12, Cavic 1-5 0-0 3, Wallace-Carter 4-8 0-0 8, Surratt 2-10 1-2 6, Gumbs 5-9 0-0 11, Ingerson 2-5 0-0 5, Shiller 3-8 0-0 8, Polakovic 2-6 2-2 6. Totals 24-56 5-6 59.
Halftime–San Diego 34, San Francisco 31.
3-Point Goals–San Diego 5-14 (N.Lewis 2-3, Cohen 1-1, Belser 1-3, DeRogatis 1-5, Johnson 0-1, Murdock 0-1), San Francisco 6-19 (Shiller 2-7, Gumbs 1-1, Surratt 1-3, Cavic 1-3, Ingerson 1-4, Polakovic 0-1). Fouled Out–Surratt, Wiggins Jr. Rebounds–San Diego 32 (Belser 8), San Francisco 36 (Wallace-Carter, Wiggins Jr. 8). Assists–San Diego 13 (Belser 4), San Francisco 15 (Shiller, Surratt 4). Total Fouls–San Diego 11, San Francisco 19. A–4,185.