De La Fuente Sparks WSU Cougars Collect Seventh Place, Trounce Puerto Rico-Mayaguez

Rodrigo de la Fuente scored 17 points and had six steals Sunday, leading Washington State University to an 85-51 men’s basketball victory over Puerto Rico-Mayaguez for seventh place in the Thanksgiving San Juan Shootout.

De la Fuente also grabbed seven rebounds and converted several steals into fast-break points.

Puerto Rico’s offense was hampered when its top scorer, Israel Figueroa, got into early foul trouble. He played only 25 minutes, finishing with eight points.

Gilfred Velez led Puerto Rico with 10 rebounds and 19 points.

Washington State led 34-25 at the half, then went ahead by 20 points in the third quarter when Figueroa sat out most of the period with four fouls.

Figueroa fouled out with 5:54 to play, then Washington State reeled off 21 straight points.

Washington State (3-2) outrebounded Puerto Rico (1-9) 55-33.

In the championship game, West Virginia whipped Dayton 96-74 as Damian Owens scored a career-high 33 points and earned tournament MVP honors. Owens grabbed 11 rebounds, had three assists and four steals.

Adrian Pledger added 20 points for West Virginia to make the all-tournament team.

Also, South Florida, which defeated Washington State in the opening round, took third place by edging Rice 49-46. Evansville took fifth by drubbing Pennsylvania 90-66.