TOREROS LET ONE SLIP AWAY TO CSUF

What had been a 19-point first-half lead was rapidly disappearing. When Cal State Fullerton converted a three-point play on its first second-half possession and the lead dwindled to six, a worried USD fan sitting behind the baseline sighed, “They’re not going away.” No, the Titans did not. Fullerton’s first lead didn’t come until 4.1 seconds remaining when Darmari Milstead hit a twisting, driving, falling bucket in the lane. Without a timeout, USD pushed the ball up the floor, got off a last-second deep 3 by Jase Townsend from the wing. It barely hit the rim.

And with that the Toreros suffered a numbing 57-55 loss. USD fifth-year senior

Joey Calcaterra let out a loud expletive, bent over and pounded the f loor.

“It’s gonna hurt for a little bit,” said USD head coach Sam Scholl. “We have to learn some lessons from it. Hard lessons.”

What the Toreros (3-2) need to learn is how to play better with a lead. They led Nevada by 19 last week, then let the Wolf Pack tie the game before winning. They led UC Riverside by 17 points in the second half Wednesday, then watched the lead slip to five before rallying.

This time, the Toreros didn’t recover. Up 39-30 at intermission, USD responded with a dreadful offensive second half. The Toreros made only five baskets (5 of 22, 22.7 percent). They scored only 16 points and turned the ball over nine times.

It was perhaps a sign of a team with 10 new players, five of them Division I transfers, four of whom start, not yet being comfortable with each other come crunch time.

“Not enough trust in each other,” Scholl said of his team’s second-half struggles. “Too much trying to make plays on our own. Not enough ball movement, man movement.”

Cal State Fullerton (2-2) got 20 points from burly 6foot-7 forward E.J. Anosike, a Tennessee transfer.

The stat that probably bothered the USD coaching staff the most: the Toreros were outrebounded 38-30. The Titans had 13 offensive rebounds to USD’s three. Second-chance points: Titans 13, Toreros 5.

St. John’s transfer Marcellus Earlington led USD with 16 points, only two of which came in the second half when he missed five of six shots. Townsend finished with 14. He was 1 of 6 the second half.

Calcaterra finished with 13 points.

After opening the game by making five of its first six 3-pointers, USD was just 4 of 13 from deep the rest of the night.

Said Scholl, “We’ve got to certainly learn how to play with a lead and not be complacent.”