Men's Basketball Falls to San Diego, 75-57

Friday, February 21

McKeon Pavillion

7:05 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

*San Diego

Men's Basketball Falls to San Diego, 75-57

2/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Feb 22, 2003

Box Score

Moraga, CA - Jason Blair notched a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the San Diego Toreros to a 75-57 West Coast Conference victory over the Saint Mary's men's basketball team on Friday night from McKeon Pavilion. With the loss Saint Mary's falls to 12-12 overall and 5-6 in WCC play while San Diego improves to 14-10 overall and 8-3 in conference action.

The Gaels scored the first basket of the game, but San Diego posted a 16-2 run to take a 16-4 lead seven minutes into the game. From there the Toreros never looked back. Saint Mary's would cut the USD first half lead to nine points on two occasions, but the Toreros opened the lead to 39-23 by halftime.

San Diego maintained its double-digit lead throughout the second half, and led by as much as 20 points (58-38) with 10:40 remaining in the game. Saint Mary's cut the deficit to 58-47 with 7:12 remaining, but that would be as close as the Gaels would get.

Three Gaels scored in double figures as Tyler Herr led the way with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point land. Daniel Kickert added 11 points and Jonathan Sanders notched his third straight double figure game with 10 points. Sanders also added a career-best nine rebounds to lead the team.

Following the game-high 21 points by Blair, both Roy Morris and Jason Keep scored 16 points for the Toreros. Morris was 8-for-13 from the field while grabbing four rebounds. Keep also had eight rebounds in 30 minutes.

Saint Mary's shot 38.2 percent from the field, converting 21-of-55 shots. SMC struggled from the free throw line as the Gaels made just 9-of-22 attempts in the game. San Diego outrebouned the Gaels 43-34.

Saint Mary's returns to the court on Sunday, February 23 when the Gaels host rival Santa Clara. The game, which can also be seen on Fox Sports-Bay Area, will tip-off at 1:05 PM from McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, CA.