University of San Francisco Athletics

Box Score  
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Kruize Pinkins scored a career high 26 points while Cole Dickerson notched sixth career double-double of the season to pace USF to a 69-63 road win over Santa Clara Saturday at the Leavey Center.

With the win, the Dons improve 16-10 overall and 9-5 in the West Coast Conference while Santa Clara falls to 11-16 and 4-10 overall. USF's win coupled with Saint Mary's loss to BYU leaves the Dons and Gaels tied for third place in the WCC standings heading into Thursday night's game on the Hilltop.

Mark Tollefsen chipped in with 13 and helped hold Santa Clara's leading scorer Jared Brownridge to just 14 points. Brandon Clark led all Bronco scorers with 15 points.

The Dons surpassed their win total from a year ago despite shooting just 37.5 percent from the floor. The Dons held a 43-36 advantage on the boards and are now 14-4 on the season when outrebounding the opponent.

USF used an 11-1 run at the end of the first half to take a 35-33 lead at intermission. The Dons scored the first eight points of the second half to increase their lead to 41-33.

Santa Clara regained the lead at 50-49 on a Brandon Clark jumper with 8:47 left.

On the Dons next possession, Tim Derksen cashed in on a driving layup to put the Dons back up by one at 51-50. 

USF would not trail again in the game.

With the Dons holding onto a 64-61 advantage, Pinkins was fouled after his two-handed slam and the ensuing free throw gave USF a 67-61 lead with :21 left.

The Dons sweep the season series from Santa Clara and improve to 9-0 against teams in the WCC not from Gonzaga, BYU or Saint Mary's.

USF will have a chance to change that trend Thursday night, when it plays host to Saint Mary's beginning at 8:00 p.m. on the Hilltop.

Rex Walters' Post-Game Comments

"Defensively, I thought we did some really good things holding them to 40 percent shooting. We weren't great offensively tonight but I thought we had a nice advantage inside with Pinkins, Dickerson and Tollefsen."

"We had some timely buckets, made free throws down the stretch and executed the game plan which was to make Clark  and Brownridge work for everything."

"I thought the more aggressive team was going to win and we were that, except for a brief spell in the second half."

"I don't know if there is a better perimeter defender in the league than Mark Tollefsen. He should get some votes for defensive player of the year because we are putting him on the other team's best scorer every night."