SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Closing out the fifth week of conference play on the Hilltop, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (18-6, 7-2 WCC) defended home court once again, capturing its third consecutive season series sweep with a 79-73 victory over Pacific (6-18, 0-9 WCC) on Saturday night at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Jonathan Mogbo opened the contest with the first point of the game, converting on the first of two free throws at 18:57. After missing the second, Mogbo got his own rebound and found Ndewedo Newbury for a three-pointer, giving San Francisco an early 4-0 lead.
• With the game tied at six following two Lesown Hallums Jr. free throws, Newbury scored five quick points on back-to-back possessions, putting the Dons in front 11-6 at 12:31.
• On the other end, after two straight Makai Richards buckets cut the deficit to one, Lesown Hallums Jr. cashed in on a pull up three-pointer, capping off a 7-0 Pacific run to give the Tigers their first lead of the game, 19-17 at 6:49. The lead did not last long as Marcus Williams found Mogbo for a layup on the next play to tie the game at 19.
• At 5:33, Ryan Beasley found Junjie Wang for a three to put the Dons back on top, 22-19. Six combined free throws from Beasley and Newbury over the next two minutes extended the USF lead to seven, 28-21, at the 3:35 mark.
• Capitalizing on a second-chance opportunity after Justin Bieker rebounded a missed Williams three, Malik Thomas drove in for a layup to give San Francisco its biggest lead of the first half at nine, 32-23, with less than two minutes to play in the period.
• Closing out the half, back-to-back and ones from Cam Denson kept the Tigers within striking distance, narrowing the USF lead to 34-29 at halftime.
• Pacific opened the second half of play on the attack as a Nick Blake layup at 16:10 cut the San Francisco lead to two, 40-38. Thomas answered back immediately with his first three of the game shortly thereafter, which ignited a 12-0 run for the green and gold across the next three minutes of play including baskets from Mogbo, Beasley and Williams, ballooning the USF advantage to fourteen, 52-38, at 13:27.
• USF and Pacific would exchange baskets over the next seven minutes of action, including 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting for Marcus Williams within that stretch, with the Dons holding a 66-54 lead at 6:24.
• However, the Tigers would not go down without a fight, putting pressure on the green and gold in the final minute of play. After two free throws from Williams at the 36-second mark put the Dons up 75-64, a Hallums Jr. three-pointer followed by a Judson Martindale layup off an unforced USF turnover quickly cut the deficit to six, 75-69, with 24 seconds remaining.
• Pacific would continue to play the foul game, but San Francisco closed out the night by making its last four free throws of the game courtesy of Beasley and Newbury as the Dons took home the victory, 79-73, to sweep their third consecutive season series (Portland, San Diego, Pacific).

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Following his second career double-double on Thursday night, Williams led the charge in the scoring column for the Dons with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor. Overall, he also added four rebounds, four assists and two steals in 32 minutes played as Williams has now reached the 20-point mark in five games this season.
• With a 15-point, 14-rebound performance on 70 percent shooting (7-10), Mogbo posted a double-double once again, his 13^th of the season, which is tied for the seventh-most in Division I. Doing it all, the forward also tallied four assists, two steals and two blocks while only turning the ball over once in 27 minutes.
• Providing a spark off the bench, Beasley had 14 points against the Tigers, including a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the charity stripe as the freshman led both teams in plus/minus at +13 in 26 minutes of action.
• Rounding out the double figure scorers for the green and gold, Newbury scored 16 points to go along with four assists and four boards. Newbury has now scored in double figures for four consecutive games, a career-best streak for the junior.
• As a squad, San Francisco dished out 20 or more assists for the eighth time this season, having an 8-0 record in games with 20-plus dimes. Going 28-of-55 from the floor tonight (50.9 percent), USF moves to 13-0 this campaign in games where the green and gold shoot 50 percent or better.

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

• To view the full highlights of tonight's game, please click here.
• To watch the full postgame interview with head coach Chris Gerlufsen and Marcus Williams, please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco will head back on the road for a date with Pepperdine in Malibu on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7:00 p.m. before returning to War Memorial to host Bay Area rival Santa Clara next Saturday, Feb. 10. Thursday's contest against the Waves will air live on ESPNU while Saturday's contest will air live on ESPN+. 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 sponsor - Provident Credit Union - 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.