USD Tops New Mexico, 64-53, for Tournament Title

The University of San Diego men’s basketball team defeated New Mexico, 64-53, to win the New Mexico tournament Sunday night in front of 16,889 in Albuquerque.

The Lobos opened the game on a 13-0 tear until USD’s Danny Means hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key. USD then outscored the Lobos, 15-4.

With 1:23 left in the game and the score tied, 48-48, William Strickland made 2 free throws to begin the Toreros on a 9-0 streak, good for a 57-48 lead.

“This is a great win,” USD Coach Hank Egan said. “We had a lot of questions going into this tournament that were answered, especially with the play of our young kids.”

Strickland led USD (2-0) with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Gaylan Dottin and Dondi Bell added 9 points each and Danny Means and Craig Cottrell had 8.

Strickland, Bell and Cottrell were named to the all-tournament team.

“New Mexico missed some critical shots in critical situations,” Egan said. “We didn’t expect this at all.”

USD opened the tournament by defeating Lehigh, 68-58, Saturday. The Toreros finished second in this tournament in 1985, losing to New Mexico in the final.

USD’s bench outscored New Mexico’s, 30-10.

United States International University plays host to Maryland Eastern Shore at 7:30 tonight in Golden Hall. The Gulls opened their season Saturday with a 84-78 victory over Air Force, snapping a 7-game losing streak against the Falcons.

After tonight’s game, USIU begins a 10-game trip which begins Tuesday at USC. The Gulls won’t return home until Dec. 28, when they meet Montana.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

San Diego State will face San Jose State in the first round of the Northwest Regional of the NCAA Championships Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at San Jose State.

The Aztecs (25-11 overall, 10-8 in Big West Conference play) begin postseason play ranked No. 4 in the region and No. 13 in the NCAA national poll. SDSU finished fourth in the conference.

San Jose (21-13, 8-10) finished tied for sixth in the Big West Conference and is ranked No. 5 in the region.

Thirty-two teams were invited to participate in the first round of the national tournament.

In other pairings in the Northwest Region: No. 1 Hawaii plays host to No. 8 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; No. 2 Cal State Long Beach plays host to No. 7 UC Irvine, and No. 3 University of the Pacific plays host to No. 6 UC Santa Barbara.

FOOTBALL

Tickets for the Dec. 30 Holiday Bowl go on sale today at 8:30 a.m. at Window P of the Holiday Bowl ticket office at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

There are 2,000 tickets available for the game, which features West Coast Athletic Assn. champion Wyoming against Oklahoma State. The ticket office will be open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For information, call 283-5808.