SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Picking up their fifth straight win and second straight road victory, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (13-4, 2-0 WCC) downed San Diego (10-8, 0-3 WCC), 83-63, on Thursday night at Jenny Craig Pavilion as four Dons finished in double figures.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• After San Diego scored the first basket of the evening twenty seconds into play, Jonathan Mogbo picked up where he left off by nailing his first shot of the night at 19:22 to get the Dons on the board and tie the contest at 2-2 in the opening minutes of the ballgame.
• Gaining momentum early, the Dons followed Mogbo's opening basket by scoring seven straight points as the green and gold raced out to a 9-2 lead at 16:25 when Mike Sharavjamts found Marcus Williams for USF's first three-pointer of the game.
• Continuing to roll to start things out, Mogbo delivered a beautiful assist to Josh Kunen in the post at 13:02 before Kunen converted on an easy layup to push San Francisco's lead to eight, 15-7. Nearing the midway mark of the first half, a jumper from Ryan Beasley at 11:54 put the Dons up ten, 19-9.
• Fast forward a few minutes later, a pair of free throws from Ndewedo Newbury stretched USF's advantage to twelve, 25-13, with 8:48 left in the first half.
• Answering back to trim their deficit back to single digits, San Diego used a 6-0 run shortly thereafter to come within six, 25-19, following a layup from Wayne McKinney III at 7:16. Responding to this run, the green and gold then netted the next two baskets to extend their lead back to double digits, 30-19, on a two-hand slam from Newbury at 6:36.
• Winding down the first half, the Toreros came within six again, 35-29, after a triple from PJ Hayes at 2:19, but San Francisco kept rolling with the punches. Closing out the half on a high note, Williams sank four free throws in the final 35 seconds to give the Dons a twelve-point lead, 43-31, at the halftime break.
• Coming out of the locker room, USF pressed their foot on the gas as Newbury and Malik Thomas scored the first two buckets in the second half to put San Francisco up by sixteen, 47-31. Subsequently, a floater in the paint from Beasley widened the gap to eighteen, 51-33, in favor of USF at 16:34.
• Defending their home court, San Diego answered with a 7-0 run to stay on the heels of the Dons, 51-40, at 14:21. Despite this stretch, San Francisco responded once again by reeling off a 13-6 run of their own over the next five plus minutes to open the lead back up to eighteen, 64-46, at 9:39.
• With just over six minutes remaining in regulation, USD continued to fight with each possession as the Toreros trimmed the score to 64-55 in favor of USF on a three-pointer from McKinney III at the 6:01 mark. Relying on their play makers, San Francisco dug deep and rallied off six straight points themselves to go back in front by double digits, 70-55, with 4:35 left on the game clock.
• Leaving no doubt, Thomas converted on an and-one with just under two minutes remaining to push the USF lead to 21 points, 79-58. Hanging on for their fourth double digit win in their last five games, San Francisco took care of business by downing San Diego, 83-63, on Thursday night at Jenny Craig Pavilion. 

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Tallying his eighth double-double of the season in the win, Mogbo was named Player of the Game once again after finishing with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals on a perfect 8-of-8 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
• Tying his season-high with 17 points, Newbury was a force to be reckoned with as the forward also added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks in 28 minutes played. Overall, the junior shot 6-of-9 from the floor, 2of-5 from beyond-the-arc and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.
• Tallying double figures for the green and gold, Thomas (14 points) and Williams (11 points) also played their part in the victory.
• As a team, San Francisco shot 51.7 percent (31-60) from the floor against San Diego marking the ninth time this season and fourth time in the last five games in which the Dons have shot over 50 percent. Additionally, USF also led the Toreros in points in the paint (50-20), points off turnovers (22-12), second chance points (11-5), fast break points (16-6) and bench points (20-9).

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

• To view the full postgame interview with head coach Chris Gerlufsen and Jonathan Mogbo, please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco will return home to the Hilltop this weekend as the Dons will host Portland this Saturday, Jan. 13. Tipoff from War Memorial at the Sobrato Center is set for 7:00 pm. Live streaming, radio, live statistics and ticket links are available via the team's schedule page.
 
FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.
 
MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today! Click here to purchase.
 
SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor - ABM - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.