Offensive Outburst Lifts Dons over Panthers

Thursday, November 11

San Francisco, Calif.

7:30 PM

University of San Francisco

2-0,0-0WCC

Prairie View A&M

0-2,0-0SWAC

Team	1	2	F
Prairie View	32	44	76
San Francisco	42	50	92

Photo by: Christina Leung

11/11/2021 11:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Fresh off a 34-point victory in their season opener, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team used an impressive offensive attack to take down Prairie View A&M (0-2), 92-76, at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center on Thursday evening.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT-

Jumping out to another hot start to begin the contest, the Dons raced out to an early 11-0 lead following an impressive basket from Jamaree Bouyea, who would sink the early free throw to convert the three-point play.
Shortly thereafter, USF stretched their advantage to 19-1 after a triple from transfer Gabe Stefanini at the 16:26 mark.
As the half continued, the Panthers showed their grit by battling back to trim their deficit to as low as nine, 38-29, which came after a three-pointer from SWAC Preseason Player of the Year Jawaun Daniels with 1:07 remaining on the clock. Buckling down to end the half, the Dons responded with six straight points from former Columbia teammates Gabe Stefanini and Patrick Tapé- four of which came from Stefanini followed by two points from Tapé to close the half. Heading into the locker room at the break, USF enjoyed a ten point lead over the Panthers, 42-32.
Keeping their foot on the gas pedal, Khalil Shabazz kept the Dons on top by double digits, 45-34, to begin the second half with another three, this time just 58 seconds into the action.
In a seesaw affair, Stefanini helped USF remain in front by fifteen with a beautiful elbow jumper at the 16:24 mark, which extended the advantage to 55-40 in favor of the Dons.
Climbing back within single digits, PVAMU would get within eight points of tying the contest following a three-point play from Daniels as the Panthers battled to cut the score to 74-67 with 5:48 remaining in regulation.
Using the strength of their home crowd, the Dons dug deep once again to put away their opponent as USF outscored the Panthers, 18-10, in the final 6+ minutes to secure their second straight home win and first-ever win over PVAMU, 92-76.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES-

Combining for 43 points, the backcourt of Bouyea (24 points) and Shabazz (19 points) proved to be lethal yet again as the two Preseason All-Conference selections led the charge offensively for the Dons. Notably, Shabazz knocked down five of his eight shots from beyond-the-arc, marking his most made three-pointers since his career-high eight triples against BYU last season on Jan. 16, 2021.
Finding his rhythm on the Hilltop, Stefanini enjoyed another successful night shooting the basketball as the guard finished 7-of-10 from the floor with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Alongside Stefanini, Tapé logged 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block, which included sinking 4-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Making an impact on both ends of the floor, graduate student Yauhen Massalski filled up the stat sheet by totaling 9 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks, 1 assist and 1 steal in 28 minutes of action against the Panthers.
Impressing with their shooting for the second straight contest, the Dons finished a scorching hot 61.1 percent from the field overall (33-54) while also shooting 45.8 percent (11-24) from distance. Defensively, USF disrupted PVAMU when it mattered most as they limited the Panthers to 45.3 percent shooting overall and 16.7 percent from beyond-the-arc.

UP NEXT:
Returning for the first time since their battle with Princeton in 2019, the Dons will take over Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors, this Saturday, Nov. 13 as USF is set to square off against Davidson at 5:30 pm. Live streaming and live statistics are available via the team's schedule page. Tickets to the event, which includes the USF women's game vs. Cal at 2:30 pm, can be purchased at chasecenter.com or by clicking here.

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the USF men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.