San Francisco Wins at the “Slim Gym”

Feb 6, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Francisco Dons players celebrate after a basket during the second half against the San Diego Toreros at Jenny Craig Pavillion. The Dons won 74-67. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Dons (15-9, 8-4) buckled down late in the second half and escaped Jenny Craig Pavilion with a 74-67 victory over host San Diego.

Cole Dickerson was the driving force for the Dons in this game. The senior forward had 21 points for USF, and hit some big shots down the stretch that ultimately led to a victory. Kruize Pinkins recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Dons point guard Avry Holmes led the Dons with 4 assists.

Holmes and Tim Derksen were the Dons other double-digit scorers with 15 and 13 respectively.

Johnny Dee was the Toreros leading scorer today with 18 points, but only on 6-18 from the field. Duda Sanadze, Christopher Anderson and Dennis Kramer all finished in double figures as well with 15, 13 and 11 points respectively. Dennis Kramer was only 1 point short of recording a double-double with 9 rebounds. Christopher Anderson’s 6 assists was a team-high tonight for the Toreros.

Keys to the Game Checklist

San Diego

(Check) Johnny Get Buckets: Dee recorded 18 points in this one, despite being the subject of the best defensive looks the Dons had to offer.

San Francisco

(Check) The Forwards: Dons forwards Kruize Pinkins and Cole Dickerson had big games tonight. They were a big reason why USF was able to pull away with the victory by outplaying the Toreros frontcourt – as expected. Mark Tollefsen was less of a factor, but his efforts weren’t needed as much considering Pinkins and Dickerson played the way they did.

Player of the Game

Cole Dickerson

The senior forward had a big game, dropping 21 points, grabbing 4 rebounds and assisting on a bucket.

Thoughts

Despite being down 10 at one point in the second half, the Dons did not let that phase them and were able to regroup and retake the lead and later ended up winning the ball game. The win solidifies USF at the 2-spot in the conference standings, which sets up for an enormous matchup with BYU on Saturday, who will also be in second place with a win versus Santa Clara tonight.