Toreros Turn Over Ball and Game in 61-60 WCAC Loss to Pepperdine

The University of San Diego Toreros, the newest heartbreak kids from Alcala Park, lost another tough West Coast Athletic Conference game here Saturday night against Pepperdine.

Just seven days after Loyola’s Keith Smith hit a jumper at the buzzer to beat USD, the Toreros lost another one in the final moments.

This time, the Waves’ Dwayne Polee provided the heroics, sinking a 15-foot jumper with six seconds left to give Pepperdine a 61-60 win.

The loss, USD’s third straight, all but dropped the Toreros (4-4, 14-8) out of the WCAC race. Pepperdine (7-1, 19-4) remained one game behind Loyola Marymount.

“I don’t know what snakebit means,” USD Coach Hank Egan said. “I’ve always believed that you make your own luck and make your own breaks.”

Egan was correct Saturday. The only problem was that Pepperdine was the team making the breaks in the final minute.

USD led, 60-57, with 36 seconds to play before three key plays turned the game around. Torero guard Pete Murphy made two critical mistakes and Polee made two great plays to give Pepperdine the win.

Polee, a 6-foot 5-inch senior guard, rebounded a missed shot by Jon Korfas and threw in a short jumper to cut the deficit to 60-59 with 23 seconds remaining.

While USD was trying to kill the clock on its next possession, Murphy tried a cross-court pass to Paul Leonard--definitely a no-no--that was tipped by Anthony Frederick and picked off by Polee.

“It was just a lack of judgment,” Murphy said.

Polee raced the length of the floor and put Pepperdine ahead with his off-balance shot from the foul line.

With six seconds left, Murphy made another mistake. After a timeout, he was instructed by Egan to pass the ball to half court for another timeout. If not, he was to call a timeout before passing the ball in. He did neither.

Murphy passed to Nils Madden under his own basket. Murphy got the ball back, raced over half court and threw up a 45-footer that drew nothing but air.

“What else can you say,” Egan said. “The kid made a mistake.”

The final moments ended a frustrating weekend for Murphy. He hit just 1 of 8 shots in a 67-59 loss to Loyola Friday and scored only 7 points against the Waves.

Afterward, Egan did not want to talk about Murphy. Instead, he was upset because he thought some were saying that his team was quitting on the court. That certainly wasn’t the case Saturday.

The Toreros, who played the game without starting forward Mark Bostic, fought Pepperdine through a nip-and-tuck second half.

Bostic was benched by Egan for what the coach called, “the good of the team and the good of Mark Bostic.” Egan said the one-game suspension was a result of “all the things that happened during, after, and way after” Friday’s loss at Loyola.

Bostic’s absence didn’t appear to hurt. The game was tied six times and the lead changed 20 times, mostly in the second half.

USD trailed, 31-28, at the intermission but got back into the contest by banging the ball inside during the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Scott Thompson, who led all scorers with 22 points, scored three quick baskets and Danny Means added a corner jumper to help USD take a 54-51 lead with 5:40 left.

Moments later, Madden scored on a three-point play to increase the margin to 59-55. Eric White hit a jumper and Murphy made one of two free throws to make it 60-57. Then Polee took over and heartbreak set in for USD.

“I’ll tell you it was a great win for us,” Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick said. “You have to win games of this magnitude to win the conference.”

For the Toreros, the opposite is true. Another narrow defeat has possibly put the conference title out of reach.