Toreros Finally Get It Right at Line, Beat San Francisco

Hank Egan, coach of the University of San Diego men’s basketball team, has been saying for quite some time, “Free throws are a contagious thing.”

Until Saturday night, Egan was referring to missed free throws.

Against the University of San Francisco before 2,280 fans--the season’s largest crowd at the USD Sports Center--USD hit 24 of 29 (89.7%) from the free-throw line, including the last 10 of the game.

Coincidentally, USD won, 69-64.

“There will be a little kick in (Egan’s) walk today,” USD guard Danny Means said.

The victory was the first for USD (6-12) in six West Coast Athletic Conference games and halted a 7-game losing streak dating back to Dec. 30.

San Francisco, which dealt St. Mary’s College its first WCAC loss Friday night, fell to 10-9, 2-4.

“We needed this one,” Egan said.

Indeed. A look at the Toreros’ next six games shows two each against Loyola Marymount (10-7, 4-1), Pepperdine (13-7, 5-0) and St. Mary’s (17-2, 5-1).

Last Friday, USD lost to San Francisco, 63-58, while outplaying the Dons in nearly every statistical category except free-throw shooting. USD made just 11 of 24; San Francisco made 29 of 33, including its final 14.

Saturday, Means made 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. Junior Craig Cottrell and freshman Gylan Dottin each made 5 of 6. Freshman Wayman Strickland made 3 of 4 and sophomore Dondi Bell 7 of 9.

“That’s it. That’s how you win. And unfortunately, that’s how you lose,” Egan said.

Scoring leaders for USD were Strickland (17), Dottin (16), Cottrell (15), Danny Means (7) and Bell (7).

San Francisco was paced by Kevin Mouton (15 points), Joel DeBortoli (14), Mark McCathrion (10) and James Bell (10).

With 9 minutes 20 seconds remaining, USD trailed, 51-44. The Toreros had led only once, at 2-0, before tying it at 33-33, but San Francisco then went on an 18-11 run, including four 3-pointers.

But at 9:20, USD’s luck began to change. Bell missed a free throw, but Cottrell rebounded and put in the layup. After Bell blocked a DeBortoli shot, Dottin scored on a layup. Strickland hit a 3-pointer and the game was tied, 51-51.

After an exchange of 5 points each, USD took the lead for good with 3:18 left on Means’ two free throws. Two more by Dottin and a 3-pointer by Strickland gave USD a 63-56 lead with 2:04 left.

With 45 seconds left, San Francisco closed to within 65-64, but Cottrell and Strickland made two free throws each to end the scoring.

“We finally got it all together,” Bell said.

Added Means: “Our attitude was not down, but we haven’t been winning down the stretch. I think tonight was a big maturing factor for us.”

In the first half, neither team made more than 5 points in a row.