By CURSTEN TAYLOR
USF Communications
TAMPA – USF men's basketball got its first win of the 2012-13 season Friday night at the Sun Dome as it beat Maryland East Shore 78-59 in front of 3,931 fans on the first day of the USF Invitational.
Head coach Stan Heath was pleased with the team's continued growth but knows there's still more to come.
"We're still trying to figure things out," Heath said. "Tonight I saw us moving in the right direction."
The Bulls also saw 7-foot-3 center Jordan Omogbehin getting the start tonight because of his size and ability to defend the paint while helping improve the team's transition defense. Omogbehin finished with six points and three boards in 12 minutes.
"Last game we gave up 30 points on layups," Heath said. "He may only score two points, but hopefully we will give up 10 points instead of 30."
After Maryland East Shore opened the contest two quick three pointers, USF went on a 15-0 run led by the energy and hustle of senior forward Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who had two offensive rebounds and a three pointer to give the Bulls an early 15-6 first half lead. Sophomore guard Anthony Collins had five first half assists, highlighted by a spectacular alley oop pass to Victor Rudd.
The Bulls led 34-23 after the first half of action. USF (1-1) shot 41 percent in the first half, while holding to Maryland East Shore (0-4) to 26 percent shooting in the half.
The second half began with another alley oop from Collins to Rudd. USF began to pull away thanks to its accuracy from long distance. Senior Shaun Noriega sparked the second half surge knocking down one trey six minutes into the half. Rudd followed suit just two minutes later and Noriega hit again a minute after. Noriega went on to finish with 11 points.
In total, the Bulls shot 7-19 for the night from three point range. The Bulls also controlled the rebounding battle, outrebounding the Hawks 45-33. Scoring wasn't hard for the Bulls either as they led by 29 with 5:10 remaining in the game and their 78 points are their most in a game since 81 against Providence last season.
Fitzpatrick led all scorers with 16 points while grabbing six rebounds in the process.
"This weekend, we're going to try to play hard and tally up some wins," Fitzpatrick said.
Collins scored 13 points and finished with a game-high seven assists.
"This team is different from last year because we have a lot of new faces," Collins said. "Everybody's just trying to get a good feel for each other."
The Bulls will be back on the court tomorrow night for day two of the USF Invitational against Loyola-Chicago for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
