A PUNCH IN GUT LEVELS TOREROS

For USD’s men’s basketball team, suffice it to say Thanksgiving dinner was difficult to stomach.

S. Alabama 68, Toreros 67

What appeared to be a goahead USD basket with 1.4 seconds to play was disallowed as South Alabama held on for a 68-67 win Thursday afternoon in the Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans Arena.

“It was a hard one, a punch in the gut,” head coach Sam Scholl said by phone.

Making matters more trying, Scholl was vehement in believing the deciding call was a bad one. With the score 68-67 and 10 seconds to play, Jase Townsend rebounded a Jaguars miss and pushed the ball up the floor.

With about three seconds to play, Townsend put up a shot in the lane. It missed. Josh Parrish grabbed the rebound and appeared to score with 1.4 seconds to play.

But the officials ruled that Vladimir Pinchuk interfered with Townsend’s shot before Parrish’s basket.

“I mean, (Pinchuk) clearly didn’t touch the ball,” Scholl said. “In live action, the trajectory of the ball didn’t suggest it was touched. The ball was moving backward. If he touched it, it would have moved forward.

“It moved back, right into Josh Parrish’s hands, which should have been the potential game-winning layup.”

It was the second straight stunning loss for USD (3-3). A week ago, at home, Cal State Fullerton scored with 4.1 seconds to play to take the Titans’ first lead of the game. A deep 3 at the buzzer by Townsend fell way short in a 57-55 loss.

USD led South Alabama by 10 in the first half and 38-31 at intermission. But the Toreros came out cold and with 14:44 to play, the Jaguars took a 44-43 lead. From there, the second half was a back-andforth

affair.

There were 11 lead changes and two ties in the second half.

Down 68-62 with 1:17 to play, USD forced South Alabama (4-2) misses on its final three possessions before the frustrating conclusion.

Townsend, a University of Denver transfer, finished with a game- and seasonhigh 25 points. Joey Calcaterra and Parrish finished with 10.

“I love this group,” Scholl said of a team with 10 new players, including five Division I transfers, four of whom start. “We talked about this year and the building of this team. It’s not going to be a smooth road. There’s going to be potholes and wires down on that road.

“Right now, after that game, I feel like the biggest tree in the world was chopped down in front of us.”

Added Scholl, “In the building of this team, how do we respond? Do we pout, get into our feelings or step up to play the way we’re capable of playing?”

In the second day of the tournament, USD plays Illinois-Chicago at 12:30 p.m. today. UIC lost to Hawaii 88-80 on Thursday.

USD lost despite outrebounding the Jags 37-26. Fifteen turnovers to South Alabama’s nine were the difference. Points off turnovers: Jaguars 10, Toreros 5.

“That,” said Scholl, “was our Achilles heel.”

A South Alabama team that came in shooting 29.3 percent on 3s (280th in the nation) sank 7 of 16 from deep (43.8 percent).