EARLINGTON SPARKS TOREROS OFF BENCH

On the beautiful Pepperdine campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, fans were not permitted inside Firestone Fieldhouse for USD’s visit against the Waves on Monday night. A COVID precaution.

Would-be spectators didn’t exactly miss a basketball masterpiece. There were missed layups and air balls. Pepperdine shot 31.9 percent from the field, and the teams combined for 26 turnovers.

But unlike football, basketball games are not permitted to end in ties, and down the stretch USD made enough plays to pull out a 72-62 win. USD head coach Sam Scholl, whose team was limited to six scholarship players in practice last week, didn’t care how it looked.

Toreros 72, Pepperdine 62

“In this conference,” Scholl said by phone after the game, “every game is tough.”

The game was a make-up of a scheduled New Year’s Day date that was postponed because of COVID protocols. With both teams losing on the road Saturday then coming back just two days later, the sloppiness could be explained by some tired legs.

And limited practice. “Anything in life, you don’t do it for a week and a half, two weeks,” said Scholl, “it ain’t going to look pretty.”

USD (8-7, 1-1 West Coast Conference) led by as many as 11 in the first half. But with 15:05 to play in the game, Keith Fisher III nailed a 3 to give the Waves their first lead of the game, 39-38.

But in the second half, senior Marcellus Earlington and clutch free-throw shooting was the difference.

Earlington sparked a 10-0 run that gave the visitors a 60-46 lead. First he hit an open 3pointer from the top of the arc. The next trip down the floor, the St. John’s transfer hit a leaner in the lane, was fouled and converted the three-point play.

“I’m very happy with how they responded,” said Scholl. “They banded together.”

In the final two minutes, 33 seconds, USD hit eight of 10 free throws. For the game, USD sank 20 of 25 from the line.

Earlington came off the bench to lead all scorers with 16 points. He added eight rebounds.

Four players scored in double figures for the Toreros. Despite hitting just two of nine shots, Joey Calcaterra scored 12 points thanks to making seven of eight free throws.

Yavuz Gultekin scored 11 points.

Pitt transfer Terrell BrownSoares had his second straight double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Pepperdine fell to 6-11 and 0-2.