SAN DIEGO – Holding a 39-27 advantage in rebounds, the San Diego men's basketball team (10-7, 3-1 WCC) defeated Loyola Marymount (7-7, 0-2 WCC) for its third straight win, 70-65.
Senior forward
Marcellus Earlington and junior
Yavuz Gultekin each registered a double-double for the second consecutive game, both ending with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Graduate
Terrell Brown-Soares led the Toreros with 13 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
Redshirt senior
Joey Calcaterra added 12 points in the win, including a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
San Diego improves to 10-7 (3-1 WCC) on the season, and will play its next three games on the road, beginning at BYU on Thursday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Calcaterra buried two early triples to put San Diego ahead, 6-5.
- Shortly after, the Toreros used a 9-2 run, including back-to-back buckets from Josh Parrish and a three-point play from Gultekin to take a 15-9 lead.
- After LMU battled back to tie it, San Diego answered with an 15-2 run to take a 34-21 advantage.
- An 8-0 run from the Lions inside three minutes brought their deficit to five. At halftime, USD led 34-29.
- Early in the second half, Wayne McKinney III buried a three-pointer and a layup on the next possession to give USD a 10-point lead.
- LMU cut its deficit to 59-53 with 3:50 left in regulation, guided by five straight points from Eli Scott.
- Calcaterra and Bryce Monroe combined for seven made free throws in the last minute to seal the win.
TORERO TIDBITS
- USD is 3-1 in WCC play for the first time since 2018.
- Earlington went into double-figures for a team-leading 13th time this season. He is averaging 13.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest.
- Gultekin went into double-figures for the fifth time this season, including four straight games.
- Brown-Soares is up to 8.8 points per game to go along with 7.4 rebounds.
- Monroe finished with nine points, including seven in the second half.
- Parrish ended with eight points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field.
- USD was 19-24 from the free throw line (79.2%).
- The Toreros led for 34:53, while the Lions led for just 2:55.
UP NEXT
USD will travel to BYU on Thursday at 6:00 PM PT. The Cougars hold a 14-6 lead in the all-time series, including two straight wins.
