University of South Florida
St. Francis (NY)
Bulls Grab First Win of Year Over St. Francis, 74-71
November 16, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Postgame Videos:
USF Coach Stan Heath
USF Players Ron Anderson, Jawanza Poland and Shaun Noriega
St. Francis Head Coach Glenn Braica
TAMPA- The University of South Florida men's basketball team was back on the court Monday night, defeating the St. Francis (N.Y.) Terriers, 74-71, successfully bouncing back from their season-opening loss to Southern Mississippi.
Ron Anderson Jr. led USF with 16 points, including three critical baskets late to help the Bulls pull away from the Terriers and earn USF's first win of the season. Anderson Jr. also had two assists and one blocked shot.
Sophomore guard Jawanza Poland made his first start of his career with the Bulls, making the most of it with 15 points, five assists, two blocks and two steals.
For USF, the story of the first half was bench play as 21 of the Bulls' 38 first half points came from three reserves in Shaun Noriega, Anderson and Toarlyn Fitzpatrick.
Much of that was due to the play of Noriega, who was 4-of-5 on three-point attempts in the first half. He finished the game with a career-high 15 points and four rebounds.
After a back-and-forth battle through the first four minutes, St. Francis went on a 7-0 run to take an early 14-7 lead, but the Bulls battled back from long range hitting back-to-back threes to take a 23-22 lead with five minutes left in the first.
Poland also had a couple of huge first half moments - receiving an alley-oop pass from Shedrick Haynes and finishing with a dunk, as well as a steal at half court that led to a slam on the other end as time expired to give the Bulls a 38-31 lead at the break.
USF led by as many as 10 in the second half, but St. Francis made a 14-0 run to take the 48-47 lead with 12 minutes left in the game. Again, the Bulls looked to the long ball to put the Terriers behind them as Haynes and Crater drained threes to take the six-point lead.
A three by the Terriers tied the game at 58 at the 7:35 mark, but over the next four minutes, USF went ahead by nine and never looked back.
Jarrid Famous had a team-leading seven rebounds for USF. He also tallied five points and a blocked shot. Anthony Crater led the Bulls with four assists, and finished the game with six points and two steals.
The Bulls' next contest will be on Thursday, Nov. 18 as they travel to Orlando to take on UCF at 7 p.m.
USF vs. St. Francis Postgame Notes
- USF's starters were: Augustus Gilchrist, Jarrid Famous, Hugh Robertson, Jawanza Poland, and Anthony Crater.
- Jawanza Poland made his first career start at USF.
- Sharp shooter Noriega hit his first three of the year just three minutes into the game. He finished the game with 4-of-6 from long range, and a career high 15 points.
- St. Francis went on a 4-minute, 7-0 run from 16:47-12:41 in the first.
- A 6-0 run with threes from Noriega and Gilchrist gave USF the 21-20 lead with 6:40 minutes left in the first half.
- USF's bench had 21 of the team's 38 points in the first half.
- With 6:40 remaining in the first half, USF gained its first lead with Augustus Gilchrist hitting a three, putting the Bulls ahead 21-20.
- Noriega had 17 points in 20 games last season and had 15 points tonight against the Terriers.
- USF connected on nine threes as a team. Last season's high was 10, which they did twice, against San Francisco and FAU.
- USF shot 68.4 percent for the game and 39.1 percent from long range.
- The USF bench scored 38 points in the game. Those reserve players include Ron Anderson Jr (16 points), Shaun Noriega (15 points), Shedrick Haynes (five points) and Toarlyn Fitzpatrick (2 points).
- Three players scored in double digits for the Bulls, including Ron Anderson Jr (16), Shaun Noriega (15), Jawanza Poland (15).
- Five players drained a three-pointer in the game - Noriega (4), Crater (2), Poland (1), Gilchrist (1) and Haynes (1).
