Dons Make History in Dominant Win Over Bethesda

Monday, November 6

San Francisco, Calif.

7:00 pm

University of San Francisco

1-0,0-0WCC

128

Bethesda

0-1

Team	1	2	F
Bethesda (CA)	32	27	59
San Francisco	82	46	128

Photo by: Christina Leung

11/6/2023 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Kicking off the new season in historic fashion, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (1-0) recorded their largest margin of victory in program history (69) as the Dons defeated Bethesda (0-1), 128-59, at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center on Monday night.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Starting the game on a hot streak, San Francisco raced out to an 11-0 within the first 2:01 following three-pointers from Marcus Williams and Isaiah Hawthorne.
As the offense continued to flow early, the Dons stretch their lead to 21 (34-13) on a fast break basket from Jonathan Mogbo at 12:24.
Knocking down 13 triples in the first half, USF pushed their advantage to 40 on a dunk from Mogbo at 3:06 before Isaiah Hawthorne closed out the half with a slam of his own to put the green and gold up by 50 at the halftime break, 82-32. Notably, these 82 points also marks the most points in a half by a USF team in program history, breaking the old record of 72 (vs. Loyola Marymount on 2/25/89).
Keeping their foot on the gas pedal with the second unit, San Francisco was in rhythm all night as a three from Justin Bieker at the 11:55 mark in the second half put the Dons over the century mark, 102-45.
Joining the party in his first collegiate game, Bay Area native Ryan Beasley knocked down a shot of his own from distance to balloon USF's lead to 60 (107-47) with 9:51 remaining in regulation.
Down the stretch, USF continued to have their way with the ball in their hands. Falling just one point shy of the program's all-time single game scoring record, the green and gold rolled to their first victory of the year by a record 69 points, defeating Bethesda 128-59 on opening night at War Memorial.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

Seven Dons finished in double figures on Monday night: Mogbo (17), Stefan Todorovic (17), Malik Thomas (17), Beasley (14), Volodymyr Markovetskyy (12), Mike Sharavjamts (11 points) and Junjie Wang (10 points).
On the boards, five Dons tallied at least five rebounds: Wang (6), Mogbo (5), Todorovic (5), Markovetskyy (5) and Sharavjamts (5).
As a team, San Francisco shot a scorching 65.4 percent (51-78) from the field and 44.4 percent (16-36) from beyond-the-arc. Defensively, the Dons held Bethesda to 36.4 percent from the floor (20-55) and 11.5 percent from deep (3-26). Notably, 81 of USF's 128 points also came from the bench.

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

To view the full highlights of tonight's contest, please click here.
To view the full postgame press conference with head coach Chris Gerlufsen, please click here.
To view the full postgame press conference with Jonathan Mogbo and Stefan Todorovic, please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco will continue their homestand this Thursday, Nov. 9 when they welcome Saint Francis to the Hilltop for a 7:00 pm matchup. The contest will air live on ESPN+ and KNBR 1050 at game time. Live streaming, radio, live statistics and ticket links are available via the team's schedule page.

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.

MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today! Click here to purchase.

SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor - Coca-Cola - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.