Colvin’s Work Boosts Toreros Past the Aztecs

Through all the preseason hype, and there was more than usual this fall at the University of San Diego, the name Keith Colvin was not a prevalent one.

Add it, now, before it’s too late.

And categorize him a blue-collar worker, with a penchant for clutch performances.

It was Colvin who hit a driving layup off an inbounds play with 21 seconds left to give USD a 75-74 victory Tuesday night over intracity rival San Diego State at the San Diego Sports Arena.

It was Colvin who denied Aztec center Marty Dow the ball on an inbounds play with three seconds left, forcing Vern Thompson to lob a pass out to mid-court where Arthur Massey hauled it in and put up a running, off-balance shot that amounted to little more than a prayer.

It was also Colvin who irritated and prodded Dow just enough in the second half that Dow eventually retaliated and collected two quick fouls and was forced to the bench with four with 13:35 left.

Dow came back with 10:15 left, but he wasn’t much of a factor after that, collecting only five of his 21 points down the stretch.

Dow is 7-feet-1, Colvin 6-8.

“I don’t think they were expecting (Colvin) in there underneath,” said USD guard Pat Holbert, the Torerros’ leading returning scorer with a 12.3 average last year.

Instead, Colvin sank the layup, and the Aztecs missed two shots in the final five seconds. Thompson missed a 15-footer from the right wing that glanced off a USD player and out of bounds under the Aztec basket to set up the final play.

“This was a heck of a game,” said USD Coach Hank Egan, whose team’s season-opening victory was its fourth in five in the series against the Aztecs. “If you don’t like this one, you don’t like basketball.”

Regardless of perspective, few among the 4,007 who attended the game, promoted by the Greater San Diego Sports Assn., would have argued.

USD raced out to a 20-6 lead at the beginning of the game and looked as if it was going to run away with it.

Seven minutes later it was tied, 30-30, thanks mostly to the three-point shooting of Aztec guard Massey, who finished with a game-high 23 points, including four three-pointers.

From there, it was back and forth with neither team taking much of a lead.

With 1:18 left, SDSU pulled ahead, 74-72, on Massey’s driving layup along the left baseline. The Aztecs, though, plagued by 40% free-throw shooting in its 99-63 opening loss Saturday at North Carolina, stumbled again at the line.

Massey missed two free throws with 58 seconds left, and the Aztecs finished at 53.8% (seven of 13) from the line.

“How’s that for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?” asked SDSU Coach Jim Brandenburg, who fell to 1-2 against USD. “We’re up by two with two free throws, and we break down.”

Brandenburg added, “Our guys are really disappointed with this game, but let’s reflect back--we’re not as far along as they are. We got down early and kept fighting back. They’re picked to win (the West Coast Conference), and we’re picked eighth in the Western Athletic Conference. . . . Think where these two teams might be in a month.”

If they played again--which they do not this season--they probably would be in the same type of game.

It’s the rivalry, Egan said.

“Our kids know one another, and they play with one another all year long, in the summertime especially, and that’s a cross-town thing,” he said. “There’s a lot of pride involved. And there’s a pride involved with Jim Brandenburg and I.

“I really have a lot of respect for Jim, and that’s why playing against his team is important. And the early lead, there was no doubt in my mind that that game was not over early. They dug in and came back, and then it got to be an absolute war out there.”

Enter Colvin, a senior who came on in the absence of center Dondi Bell to spark the Toreros near the end of last season when Bell was out with a hip injury. Colvin knew what to expect. He is one of the few basketball players who wears a mouthpiece during games.

“It’s just all a part of the game,” Colvin said. “Any Division I basketball game is going to be physical.”

Colvin finished with just four points, but they were all important ones down the stretch. He added five rebounds in just 14 minutes of play.

Kelvin Woods, another undersized Torero who at 6-6 is considered a center/forward, led five players in double figures with 14 points. Anthony Thomas had 13 points and five rebounds. Holbert scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.