St. Thomas, VI (Sports Network) - Gyno Pomare scored 17 points and hauled in 12 rebounds to lead the San Diego Toreros in a 73-66 victory over the Valparaiso Crusaders in opening round action of the Paradise Jam.
San Diego will play the winner of the Iona/Wisconsin game on Sunday, while Valparaiso will play will play the loser of that matchup on Saturday.
Brandon Johnson poured in 14 points and eight boards for the Toreros (2-1), who captured a 65-51 victory over Nevada on Tuesday, which was a nice rebound for San Diego as it opened the season with a 65-60 setback at UNLV.
Erik Buggs had 16 points for the Crusaders (2-1), who got things going with an 87-56 trouncing of Marian on Saturday prior to cruising past UCF, 69-52, on Tuesday. Urule Igbavboa notched 13 points, five rebounds and two assists in defeat.
San Diego jumped out to a 37-30 lead at the half.
The Crusaders closed to 69-66 with 1:28 left in the game on a pair of free throws from Igbavboa.
Three points is as close as Valpo would get, as San Diego scored the final four points of the game via the foul line to account for the final margin.
