Anderson leads San Diego past SHSU in a tight one

Feb 6, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Toreros forward

(25), guard

(0), forward

(33) and guard

(10) walk off the court after a loss against the San Francisco Dons at Jenny Craig Pavillion. The Dons won 74-67. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Christopher Anderson scored 19 points and had a key three point play in the final minute to propel the San Diego Toreros to a tough 77-72 victory over the Sam Houston State Bearkats.  After Anderson’s layup and the foul, Terrance Motley missed the go ahead 3 point shot for SHSU, then Johnny Dee  hit 2 free throws for USD.  After Jito Kok blocked the next Bearkat shot attempt when they were down by 3, Dee hit 2 more free throws to ice the game.

Anderson, in addition to his 19 points, dished out 10 assists.  Dee added 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists for the Toreros.  It has been nice to see him distribute the ball so well the last 2 games.  Dennis Kramer added 13 points, while Brett Bailey chipped in 7 points, including a nice layup along the baseline to keep the Toreros in striking distance down the stretch.  Off the bench, Duda Sanadze, who recovered nicely from his foot injury, contributed 12 points on 4/6 shooting.

Jabari Peters led Sam Houston State with 18 points, 5 assits, and 7 rebounds in a losing effort.  Paul Baxter added 16 points and 7 assists, while James Thomas and Kaheem Ranson also scored in double figures, with 14 and 10 points respectively.

Keys to the Game for San Diego revisited

Push – Ball control: The Toreros committed 15 turnovers although they did assist on 21 of their 27 made field goals.  Still, they should strive for fewer turnovers as the competition gets steeper as they move on in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

Push – Keep Kramer out of foul trouble: He did pick up his 2nd foul at the 8:01 mark of the first half, but did not pick up another foul after that in the entire game.  He was able to stay on the floor and had an effective 6/11 shooting night, helping the Toreros get the victory on a night where Jito Kok wasn’t scoring much.

What’s next for the Toreros?

Likely a matchup between the winner of Pacific vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi, because the CIT chooses matchups for each round based on geography.  It will be interesting to see if they end up playing the WCC foe Pacific.  This would not be the first time two WCC teams faced off in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.  In 2011, Santa Clara beat San Francisco in the quarterfinals of the CIT on their way to winning the entire tournament.

UPDATE (from editor) 10:39 March 23rd: 

Pacific and San Diego as expected will play in the quarterfinals of the CIT. The game will be this upcoming Wednesday at 7 p.m. PST. The game will be held in the Spanos Center, so Pacific is the host team.