By: Jason Testa
In a competitive matchup for the Battle of San Diego, the San Diego State men’s basketball team faced off against crosstown rivals, the Toreros from the University of San Diego.
After a scoreless first two minutes of play, Toreros graduate guard Dominique Ford opened up play with an and-1 jumper from the elbow.
However, Aztecs standout sophomore guard Taj DeGourville answered right away with a floater of his own and followed that up with a lob to fellow sophomore forward Pharaoh Compton.
The experienced senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters attacked the rim on back-to-back drives, getting one to fall and fouled on the other, causing the first timeout of the game.
The Aztecs’ defense forced tough shots and created turnovers for the Toreros, allowing them to jump out to a 19-4 lead with 10:58 left to go in the half. SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher noted, “The pressure we put on them early affected their rhythm offensively.”
The Toreros managed to put an end to their dry spell through a corner three by graduate forward Tim Moore Jr.
DeGourville checked back into the game and instantly found junior guard BJ Davis on a corner three, then followed that up with a physical layup of his own. Taj kept the momentum going, hitting a deep three from the top of the key to reach 7 points and 3 boards on the night.
Junior guard from England, Latrell Davis, got in on the action, scoring two tough finishes at the rim and being part of a hustle play that allowed him to reach the line at the end of the first half, stretching the halftime lead to 48-24.
The story of the first half was the 23 bench points by SDSU and solid defensive intensity, causing the Toreros to go 6-29 from the field. The Toreros were held to 4 points in the paint.
The Toreros’ junior guard Ty-Laur Johnson started the next half off hot, hitting two consecutive buckets and reaching 12 points on the night.
After a 5-0 run by USD, Dixon-Waters picked up exactly where he left off, scoring seven straight points of his own. DeGourville added to the lethal backcourt by knocking down a deep three.
The Toreros could not buy a bucket offensively, and Dixon-Waters made them pay, hitting a difficult jumper off the dribble, extending the lead to 68-33 with 11:05 to play.
Dominique Ford put the Toreros on his back, knocking down two consecutive three-pointers to reach double figures with 10 points on the night.
Nevertheless, this effort was not enough, as the Aztecs’ bench, led by Latrell Davis (13 points), proved to be too much for this Toreros team to stop in the open court. Coach Dutcher emphasized, “The strength of this team is our depth, and that will be our biggest advantage all season.”
The Aztecs’ 6-foot-8 forward Pharaoh Compton added to the stat sheet with a remarkable two-hand slam dunk over a Toreros defender to put an exclamation point on this game.
The Aztecs came up victorious in this contest with a final score of 87-54, thanks to a 17-point outburst by Reese Dixon-Waters and an 11-point, 3-assist game by his running mate Taj DeGourville.
Coach Dutcher credited this win to “outrebounding them 49-25, and making more free throws than they took.”
The San Diego State Aztecs look forward to building on this hot streak as they turn to the first game of the regular season vs. Long Beach State at Viejas Arena on November 4th.