On the 30th anniversary of the dark chapter in his family history, Rob Jones continued on his mission to keep authoring bright ones.
Thirty years after the tragedy at Jonestown, Guyana, the place his grandfather, Jim Jones, founded, USD's 19-year-old sophomore forward produced a dominating performance before 3,355 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion last night in leading the Toreros to a 65-51 victory in the season's home opener.
EARNIE GRAFTON / Union-Tribune
USD's Gyno Pomare scored 12 points in season debut after serving one-game suspension.
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Jones scored 23 points, hauled in five rebounds and nearly pitched a shutout on Nevada freshman forward Luke Babbitt, a McDonald's All-American as a high school senior who had 20 points and 12 rebounds in his collegiate debut three days earlier. Babbitt scored his only field goal with 1:41 remaining, with Jones not on the floor, in totaling three points.
Jones concentrated fully on Nov. 18, 2008, not Nov. 18, 1978.
“I try to keep that stuff away, but sometimes it comes up when I see it on TV,” Jones said. “I've been getting a couple of calls lately from people who wanted to do interviews.
“But it wasn't in mind at all today. I was just trying to get focused on basketball.”
EARNIE GRAFTON / Union-Tribune
USD's Rob Jones goes up with a shot in the victory over Nevada.
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Offensively, Jones displayed new-found range with his jump shot. Of his 10 field goals, one was from three-point range, six from 12-15 feet or farther, two on layups and one on a solo dunk.
Jones said he spent nine weeks this summer at USD, hit the books to make his fall academic load easier, hit the gym to work on his game and “cut down on my social life.”
Quite a sacrifice? “You've got to do what you've got to do to get better,” Jones said.
The game marked the 2008-09 season debut for Gyno Pomare, who served a one-game suspension for breach of team rules in Saturday's loss at UNLV, and junior De'Jon Jackson, who missed the season opener with a knee injury. Pomare's first words in the postgame interview room were an apology to his mother for getting suspended. The next ones were a promise to make it up to her.
“I'm just glad to be back and whatever the coach wants me to do, I'm going to do it,” Pomare said. “I just want to get back in that lineup.”
Pomare came off the bench 3:36 into the game and scored six points in his first 6-minute, 14-second stint. He finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three assists.
“Obviously, having both those kids (Pomare and Jackson) back was a boost,” Toreros head coach Bill Grier said. “They were a huge part of this team last year. The staff counts on them and the team counts on them being a big part again this year.”
At much closer to full strength than in the season opener – two players remain on suspension for another week at least – USD could and did utilize its depth and lineup flexibility.
Senior guard Brandon Johnson (13 points, team-high seven rebounds), sparked an 8-2 Toreros breakout in the first 3:16 of the game. The Toreros led 37-27 at halftime, scored the first six points after the break and led by 25 with 8:01 remaining.
“Overall it was a very good effort,” Grier said. “I was really concerned coming in because they really manhandled us last year at their place. I felt that we really had to come out swinging, we had to be the aggressor and I felt for the most part of the night we did that.”
Hank Wesch: (619) 293-1853; hank.wesch@uniontrib.com
