Boogie Ellis, Drew Peterson and Joshua Morgan lead USC past Mount St. Mary’s
Boogie Ellis hit four three-pointers and finished with 19 points, Drew Peterson added 15 points, eight rebounds and a career-high 12 assists, and USC beat Mount St. Mary’s 83-74 on Friday night at Galen Center.
Joshua Morgan made six of seven shots from the field and finished with career highs of 15 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-foot-11 junior added five blocks for the Trojans (3-1) and has 16 this season.
Peterson assisted on a layup by Ellis to close an 8-0 run that made it 59-44 with 9:20 to play, and the Trojans led by double figures until a 10-0 run by Mount St. Mary’s trimmed its deficit to 75-68 with 2:43 remaining. The Mountaineers got no closer.
Five-star point guard Isaiah Collier from Georgia chose USC on Wednesday, handing coach Andy Enfield another monumental victory on the recruiting trail.
USC took the lead for good on Morgan’s dunk with 6:18 left that made it 24-22, and Peterson assisted on layups by Morgan and Tre White and then a three-pointer by Ellis before his jumper with 14:25 remaining capped an 11-2 run and gave the Trojans a 45-34 lead. White finished with 10 points.
Dakota Leffew scored 21 points on seven-for-13 shooting, four for five from three-point range, with four steals for Mount St. Mary’s (1-3). Malik Jefferson went eight for nine from the field and finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Jalen Benjamin added 17 points and seven assists.
Up next
Mount St. Mary’s plays the second of five consecutive road games Sunday at Cal Poly.
USC travels to the Bahamas to play Brigham Young on Wednesday at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
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