San Diego’s second-half surge was tough for the Arkansas State men’s basketball team to overcome in a 71-57 loss to the Toreros Friday night at the Acrisure Invitational.
A-State (1-4) owned a halftime lead, but USD (5-1) scored 12 unanswered after intermission and held that lead to take the win inside Acrisure Arena. The Toreros shot 40.6 percent from the field (26-64) while holding the Red Wolves to 29.4 percent (20-68).
Dyondre Dominguez scored a team-high 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead A-State, while Freddy Hicks added 12 points and seven boards. Lado Laku corralled a game-high 12 rebounds as the Red Wolves out-rebounded USD 50-40.
Dominguez scored A-State’s first five points of the night, as the Red Wolves built an early lead that stood for most of the half. A Fields layup at the 10:40 mark gave A-State its largest lead at 19-10 before the Toreros fought back to take a 27-26 lead with a minute remaining. Fields knocked down another layup inside a minute, giving the Scarlet and Black a 28-27 advantage at the break.
San Diego opened the second half on an 12-0 run to take a double-digit lead before A-State pulled to within 11 on a trey by Zane Butler with 5:17 to play. The Toreros outscored the Red Wolves 44-29 and shot 48.5 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes to earn the win.
NEXT UP
A-State looks to bounce back on Saturday, facing UT Rio Grande Valley in the third-place game of the Acrisure Invitational. Tip-off against the Vaqueros is slated for 7 p.m. CT.
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