Loss to St. Mary’s Erases USD Title Hopes : College basketball: Toreros fall, 90-88, in double overtime.

For the better part of 72 minutes Friday and Saturday night, the University of San Diego looked lethargic. Whether it was lack of intensity or lack of execution, few plays went right, and the Toreros did little but play catch-up.

Suddenly, with eight minutes left Saturday against St. Mary’s College, the Toreros picked up the pace enough to catch up and enough earn five minutes of overtime. Then another five.

In the end, after two clutch free throws by Allen Caveness and a steal by Thurman Watson, St. Mary’s edged USD, 90-88, in double overtime in front of 2,389 at McKeon Pavilion.

With the loss--USD’s second in as many nights after winning nine of 10--and Pepperdine’s 81-58 victory over Portland, Pepperdine (17-8, 11-1) clinched the West Coast Conference title with two games left. The Waves earned the No. 1 seed in the WCC Tournament March 2-4 at Santa Clara.

USD, which remained in second, fell to 16-9, 8-4. St. Mary’s won its third in a row for the first time this season and improved to 10-15, 6-6. It was USD’s second overtime game this season--the Toreros lost at home to Colorado, 89-82, on Jan. 2--and first double overtime since beating Loyola Marymount, 88-82, in 1987.

Caveness, a left-handed point guard who led all scorers with 25, sank his deciding free throws with 13 seconds left.

USD then came down and elected not to call a timeout. Wayman Strickland’s attempted pass inside to Dondi Bell with seven seconds left was intercepted by Watson, who dribbled out the clock.

“It’s disappointing. But it shows that we can come back under difficult circumstances,” said USD senior guard Pat Holbert, whose three-pointer with five seconds left in regulation gave USD the opportunity to stay alive.

Holbert’s heroics in the second half and at the end of regulation left him with a two-month post-New Year’s high of 17 points--all coming after halftime--before he fouled out with 56 seconds left in the second overtime. Holbert made six of 10 shots, including three of five three-pointers.

In all, five players were disqualified for fouls as there were 56 called.

Kelvin Woods added 20 points and seven rebounds for USD, Anthony Thomas 13 and eight.

Off the bench, Strickland scored 15 and Bell pulled down seven rebounds.

Off the bench?

That’s right. USD Coach Hank Egan, hoping to shake things up a bit, started a different lineup for the first time in 11 games. In place of Strickland was Geoff Probst, and Keith Colvin replaced Bell.

One reason--statistically--for the change was the fact USD had only nine assists--two in the second half--while making 29 baskets Friday in a 89-81 loss at San Francisco.

Probst and Colvin look to pass more than Strickland and Bell, and getting forwards Woods and Thomas involved more offensively has a positive influence.

The strategy worked early on, with Woods and Thomas each scoring five points and the Toreros taking a 12-11 lead with 12:46 left.

Colvin, who began the game with 20 more assists than Bell in 152 fewer minutes, matched Bell’s season high in the first 2:20, dishing off to Woods and Thomas for a 4-2 Torero lead.

Five minutes later, Colvin combined with Woods on a pretty give-and-go--Woods tossing inside to Colvin, Colvin handing off to Woods--that was good for three points after a Gael foul.

Over the next 12 minutes, however, USD got away from that attack, and Woods and Thomas scored only two more apiece in the half.

St. Mary’s, which retook the lead, 19-18, with 7:30 left, went to the locker room with a 33-26 advantage.

The 26 points was a season-low for USD in a first half, two fewer than in its 72-63 loss at UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 10. USD entered the game averaging 82.6 points per game, and the school record in that category is 79.1, set last year.

Caveness also scored the basket that forced the second overtime, hitting an eight--footer with six seconds to go.

Torero Notes

USD wraps up its West Coast Conference schedule by playing host to Loyola Marymount on Thursday and first-place Pepperdine on Saturday. . . . Dave Fehte, St. Mary’s interim coach, who took over when Paul Landreaux resigned under pressure before the WCC season, is tied for 45th in WCC career coaching victories with six. Landreaux is 51st with four. Friday was the final day for receiving applications to be the Gaels’ coach next season. Fehte, 30, has applied and has received an overwhelming boost of support from the players, but he is not considered to be one of six finalists.