West Coast Convo
Fansided

San Francisco Downs Pacific 65-55 in Regular Season Finale

By Mary Harvill

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Closing out the regular season conference schedule, the San Francisco Dons achieved a satisfying win over Pacific 65-55 at home inside War Memorial Gym.

Jan 18, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Dons forward Kruize Pinkins (15) takes a shot against the San Diego Toreros during the second half at War Memorial Gymnasium. The San Francisco Dons defeated the San Diego Toreros 64-62. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Honoring the outstanding careers of Kruize Pinkins, Matt Glover, Chris Adams and Gavin Hoffman before starting game play, USF turned in a decent first half performance but trailed by 2 against the Tigers at the halftime. Kruize Pinkins led the way for the Dons with 11 points by the time halftime arrived, and the Dons were shooting an amazing 83% from the free throw line. TJ Wallace was the Tigers leading scorer at the half.

The tone of the game took a decidedly different turn in the second half, with a technical foul on TJ Wallace after he lobbed a few verbal barbs Matt Glover’s way. Devin Watson was the designated shooter hitting both free throws to narrow the scoring gap between the Dons and Pacific slightly with Pacific still in the lead at 33-31.

The Dons then got gritty and tied the game 33-33 with a well-placed Kruize Pinkins layup thanks off a solid assist from Tim Derksen with 18:03 remaining. The teams continued to jockey for position until USF went on a 7-0 run beginning at the 13:08 mark, ultimately distancing themselves from Pacific. As hard as Pacific tried to battle back, they were not successful.

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Kruize Pinkins finished the game with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Mark Tollefsen had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 1 steal. Tim Derksen and Devin Watson had 12 points apiece, and Derksen added 1 steal. Pacific also gave up 2 steals to Matt Glover who scored with 4 points as well.  Chris Adams finished with 3 points for the evening.

In only their second season in the WCC, Pacific has to feel pretty good about their performance during the regular season. Pacific and USF will meet again in the opening round of the WCC tournament this coming Friday. While the rest of the conference, if not the country, is buzzing about Gonzaga’s loss to BYU (in Spokane no less) including the bracketology ramifications (Joe Lunardi is already in over-drive, pencils flying, the end of February until Selection Sunday are when his “first in, first out” comments are worth paying attention to) and post-season tournament opportunities for BYU,  both Pacific and USF will be focused on getting ready for their WCC tournament performances and preparing to sparkle in Las Vegas.

San Francisco finishes the regular season at 13-17 overall and 7-11 in conference play. The Tigers finish 12-18 overall and 4-14 in conference play.

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