Toreros back on winning side with defeat of Lumberjacks, 78-69

Guard Ty-Laur Johnson scored 10 of his game-high 23 points during an 18-12 University of San Diego run over the final 5½ minutes Saturday afternoon to lead the Toreros to a 78-69 victory over Northern Arizona at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Toneari Lane hit five 3-point shots for USD, which also got 10 points from guard Adrian McIntyre.

Eleven Toreros scored and 10 played at least nine minutes as balanced USD improved to 4-6. Northern Arizona fell to 4-6.

“We’re glad to get back into the winner’s circle,” said USD coach Steve Lavin, whose team snapped a five-game losing streak. “It’s for morale as much as the win itself. But you also need that pep in your step as you finish out the semester.

“I think we’re going to see some significant progress. It’s going to be all basketball, practice and games, until the start of the spring semester.

“We shot the ball well today. We were sharing the ball. Johnson had no turnovers and 20-plus points. Lane hit those 3s which allowed us to keep some distance. And there’s five players rotating on the front line. They are all different which creates some matchups for us. I thought our frontline really played well today.”

USD shot 50 percent from the floor (25-for-50), including going 10-for-23 from 3-point range. The Toreros got 21 points off turnovers.

“Confidence is an element as well,” said Lavin. “I thought we saw that today. We know we have the potential to shoot well.”

“We did a lot of great stuff today,” said Johnson. “We still have a lot to work on. I think we’re getting a lot better on defense.”

Johnson was 6-for-13 from the floor and 10-for-12 from the foul line as he got the ball on mismatches down low.

“It felt good shooting the ball today,” said Lane.