TOREROS TOP NAU AFTER ROUGH START

Off seven days because of finals, USD started sluggishly Saturday night against Northern Arizona, but the Toreros pulled a second-half about face to hand the Lumberjacks a 6959 defeat at Phoenix’s Footprint Center.

The game was part of the Jerry Colangelo Classic. It was USD’S third straight win.

Three minutes, 56 seconds into the game the Toreros had missed three of four shots,

Toreros 69, No. Arizona 59

turned the ball over three times and were down 12-3. By halftime, USD pulled to within one, 29-28.

The Toreros (7-5) opened the second half on a 16-4 run and never trailed again.

St. John’s transfer Marcellus Earlington had his second straight double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, including three straight 3-pointers in the second half. Jason Cone scored 20 points for NAU but was just 6 of 20 from the field.

USD dominated the glass vs. NAU (4-6), outrebounding the Lumberjacks 44-25.

Tritons 93, Caltech 52: The UC San Diego men’s basketball team spread the load in a victory over Division III Caltech, with all 13 Tritons scoring in the convincing nonconference win at RIMAC Arena.

Toni Rocak scored 10 points and added 11 rebounds off the bench, one of three players in double figures for the Tritons (6-4), who registered 21 assists with just nine turnovers in the win. For Division III Caltech (7-3), the game is marked as an exhibition.

With the contest tied at 5-5, the Tritons reeled off an 18-2 run to build a 23-7 lead with 10:47 left in the first half. Rocak scored four points and grabbed five quick rebounds off the bench during the spurt. Bryce Pope helped UC San Diego’s run with a pair of early steals.