Unlikely Hero Lifts Toreros : College basketball: Probst’s free throws give USD Coach Hank Egan his 250th victory.

As Geoff Probst stepped to the free-throw line with 14 seconds left in a two-point game, he knew very well that he had missed his first 10 foul shots of the season, including one just 24 seconds earlier.

Probst’s coach, Hank Egan, who was trying to win his 250th game in his 20-year career and first this season in the West Coast Conference, knew. Probst’s teammates on the University of San Diego bench knew. And Pepperdine knew, too.

Geoff Probst, who had not made a free throw in two years, made a big one with 14 seconds left Friday to give USD a 91-88 victory over Pepperdine.

Moments earlier, Probst, who also had not even scored in more than a month, made his first basket with 38 seconds left.

Unlikely hero?

Probst, a 5-foot-11 guard who admits to being both small and slow, finished with three points . . . the final three in an all-important West Coast Conference victory in front of 2,674.

“Just luck I guess,” said Probst, who might not have been that far off from the truth.

Probst, a walk-on transfer from Division II UC Davis, was not expected to be winning games when this season began. But Probst impressed Egan with his all-out style of play and tenacity on defense. However just when things were starting to go his way, Probst broke the ring finger on his right hand and was forced miss five games.

Before returning for the first time last Saturday in a 68- 61 loss at Santa Clara, Probst practiced while wearing a boxing glove to protect the finger from further injury.

The way he had been shooting free throws, it might have seemed as if he were wearing boxing gloves during games, too.

“He was like a 75-80% free-throw shooter at Davis,” Egan said. “And in practice, he flat drills them.”

Said Anthony Thomas, who finished with a career-high 24 points on 10 of 17 shooting, “The whole team realized (his situation). But we’ve got confidence in him. We’ve got confidence in any one on this team in a pressure situation.”

The situation was filled with pressure because USD couldn’t hold a 13-point lead with 7:15 left.

Pepperdine, led by Doug Christie with 29 points, rallied to trim the Toreros lead to 86-84 with 2:13 left.

Christie had just made his third block of the game and drove down for a three-point play on a layup and foul shot.

Thomas then made a steal and drove down for a fancy, spinning layup to put the Toreros up, 88-84, but Rick Welch sank a jump shot 22 seconds later to make it 88-86 with 1:00 left.

Enter Probst, who already was in the game.

With USD trying to kill the clock, Probst drove the middle and while finger-rolling a layup was fouled. The basket was good, but Probst missed the free throw, making him zero for 10 on the year.

Pepperdine’s Geoff Lear made a layin after an offensive rebound with 38 seconds left, to pull the Waves within, 90-88, setting up Probst’s heroics.

Christie missed a three-point shot with six seconds left, and USD got the rebound to run out the clock.

The Toreros, in addition to winning its first WCC game against one loss, improved to 8-6 with its first victory over the Waves in six games. USD had not won in the Firestone Fieldhouse since the 1986-87 season.

Egan, who coached 13 years at the Air Force Academy before coming to USD seven years ago, is now 250-266.

Pepperdine, which now has lost four consecutive games for the first time in third-year coach Tom Asbury’s career, fell to 6-8, 0-1.

USD got off to a fast start, leading 9-2 and 21-14, before the Waves picked up the pace midway through the first half.

From there, it was back and forth, with USD holding a 52-48 lead at halftime. It was the highest scoring first half for both teams this season.

Thomas (14 points) and Kelvin Woods (13) were the main scorers for the Toreros, but Pat Holbert and Wayman Strickland also kicked in seven.

Woods finished with 21 and Holbert 13.

Thomas scored his 13th and 14th points at 11:43. Probst had stolen the ball in the backcourt and made a bounce pass to the streaking Thomas, who put down a two-hand slam and evened the score at 29-29.

Woods scored the Toreros’ final six points of the half on four free throws and a layup off an offensive rebound layup.

In the half, Woods made five of five three throws and the Toreros 13 of 14. Pepperdine, after missing its first three foul shots, made 10 of its next 11 in the half. Both teams shot 50% from the field.

Christie led the Waves with 15 points in the first half, including a spectacular breakaway reverse dunk after stealing a Probst pass in the frontcourt.

Torero Notes

The late Phil Woolpert, a former USD and San Francisco coach, was honored in a ceremony at USF. A sign with Woolpert’s name will be hung in USF’s Memorial Gym next to those of former players Bill Russell, Bill Cartwright and K.C. Jones.