Toreros Advance in Tournament

What the University of San Diego thought was safe--a 10-point lead with 4 1/2 minutes remaining--was almost sorry.

Hawaii made that lead disappear, and the Toreros needed Christopher Grant’s jump shot and Gylan Dottin’s steal in the final 23 seconds Friday for a 65-64 victory over the Rainbows in a first-round game of the Hawaii Tip-Off Tournament in front of 4,329 at Blaisdell Arena.

The Toreros meet Cal State Long Beach for the championship at 10:15 tonight (KSDO radio, 1130 AM). Long Beach got 30 points from Lucious Harris to rally from a 17-point deficit and defeat Tulsa, 72-69, in Friday’s other game.

USD (2-0) took second-half leads of 58-46 and 60-50 behind the play of sophomore guard Doug Harris, who finished with 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting.

But the Rainbows (0-2) rallied, with 6-foot-9 senior forward Fabio Ribeiro giving them the lead, 64-63, on two free throws with 44 seconds remaining. Ribeiro finished with 24 points and seven rebounds.

Grant hit his shot, a 10-foot turnaround, and after Hawaii called timeout at :14 to set up a play, Dottin stole a pass.

“We played tough when we needed to,” USD Coach Hank Egan said. “Doug Harris really got off in the second half. Neal Meyer did a tremendous job defending (Ribeiro) and got some big rebounds.”

The Rainbows shot on 32% from the field, and 12 of Ribeiro’s points came on free throws. USD also had a 45-36 rebounding advantage, although the Toreros committed 21 turnovers to Hawaii’s 12.

Dottin contributed 13 points and Grant 10 for USD, which shot 45% from the field but made only half of its 26 free throws.