USD didn’t so much need a bench for its game against Cal Lutheran on Saturday night as it did an infirmary ward. Three starters were out with injury, as was the Toreros’ sixth man.
“When you sign up for athletics you also sign up for the potential that there could be injury,” head coach Sam Scholl said before the game. “The injuries, unfortunately, have hit us in one big swoop.”
Which meant that Cal Lutheran, a non-scholarship Division III program, showed up on the schedule at the perfect time. After letting the Kingsmen hang around for 20 minutes, USD buried the visitors in the second half, walking away with an 84-55 win at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Sitting on the bench bandaged up for the Toreros (6-5) were Jase Townsend (broken right hand), Joey Calcaterra (ankle sprain), Terrell Brown-Soares (elbow infection) and Josh Parrish (heel injury).
Freshman Wayne McKinney III and Georgetown transfer TJ Berger started the first games of their college careers and came through. McKinney matched his career high set in the last game against Cal Poly with 17 points. Berger scored a career-high 13.
“Whenever you lose four guys in a week it’s never good for team morale,” said Berger. “It’s good to get a win like this with everyone scoring, everyone touching the ball. It’s good for team morale.”
After averaging 49 points the previous three games, the offensive outburst was a relief for the Toreros.
McKinney and Berger were a combined 7 of 14 on 3s. Scholl didn’t care that they came against a Division III opponent.
“They were knocking down shots,” he said. “They were doing it in a game, with the lights on, people in the stands, at game speed.”
Cal Lutheran was missing leading scorer Mason Johnson (20.1 points) with an ankle sprain.
With Johnson out the only thing hurting worse than the Toreros’ lineup was Cal Lutheran’s shooting touch. The Kingsmen (7-2) came in averaging 82.1 points and shooting 47 percent. But that was against the likes of Illinois Tech, North Park, Caltech and Occidental.
Against the Toreros, Cal Lutheran scored a season low by 11 points and shot 34.4 percent. (The Kingsmen were shooting 25 percent midway through the second half before USD’s defense softened.)
With Cal Lutheran starting a JV high school-sized five in the second half (5-feet-8, 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 and 6-5) the Toreros took advantage inside, outscoring the visitors 52-32 the final 20 minutes.
St. John’s transfer Marcellus Earlington scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds.
Points in the paint: USD 38, Cal Lutheran 26.
Townsend is expected to be sidelined at least three more weeks. Calcaterra will likely miss at least two more weeks. Brown-Soares and Parrish are expected to play next Saturday against Northern Arizona.
“We had a next-man-up mentality,” said Berger. “A lot of dudes were saying that.”
“It doesn’t matter who’s missing or who’s playing,” said forward Vladimir Pinchuk. “We’ve got to work with who’s there and roll with it. Just control what we can control.”
Norcross is a freelance writer.
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