Feb. 9, 2002
Final Stats
Los Angeles, Calif. (February 9) -- The struggles for the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) men's basketball team continue as they fell 80-67 to San Francisco in West Coast Conference action at Gersten Pavilion Saturday night.
In front of a homecoming crowd of 2,615, the Lions dropped their seventh straight and fall to 9-15 and 2-8 in the WCC. The Dons improve to 12-11 and 7-3.
Once again shooting woes have put a strangel hold on the Lions offense as they finished the game shooting just 39 from the field. It is the sixth time in seven games the Lions failed to shoot over 40 percent. The Dons, meanwhile, finished hitting 45 percent from the field, including a torrid pace to start the first half.
The Dons took the homecoming crowd out of the game early, hitting nine of 16 three-pointers in the first half to take a 45-29 lead into the lockerroom at the half. For the game the Dons finished with a season-high 10 three-pointers. John Cox, Shamell Stallworth and Tayo Akinsete each had three from long distance to pace USF, who had five players in double figures.
"What really hurt us was the three-point shooting," said Head Coach Steve Aggers. "We did a good job with a zone to start the game. They got some good looks at the basket and made their shoots. They really shot the ball well tonight."
USF was led by Cox, who had 19 points. Stallworth finished with 17, while center Hondre Brewer scored 16, Darrell Tucker added 14 and Akinsete had 10.
While the Dons would finish 10-for-20 (50 percent) from long range, the Lions would struggle from the three-point line, hitting just 4-of-20 (20 percent). Senior Robert Davis had a pair of threes, finishing with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Freshman Andy Osborn broke out of a scoring slump to pace the Lions with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Despite the efforts on the glass by Osborn and Davis, the Lions were outrebounded 41-38. USF was led by Tucker with nine boards and Cox with eight. Tucker, who averages 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, was held under his average thanks to the Lions' zone defense and the efforts of Sean Mollins off the bench.
"We started the game in zone and did a good job in containing Tucker," said Aggers. "I want to compliment Sean Mollins on his effort tonight. It was a pleasure to see him battle a potential pro player in Tucker. He was very inspirational and sometimes all it takes is one guy to pick up the rest of his teammates." Mollins, who had strep throat and a 100-degree fevor late this week, finished with four points and five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.
Senior Greg Lakey added 12 points, seven in a second half run that saw the Lions fight back and cut the Dons 27 point lead to just 12 with 2:17 remaining on a pair of free throws by Eurskine Robinson, who finished with a career-high eight assists and five points.
"We competed well in the second half and kept fighting," said Aggers. "We did a good job with our zone and had some good things happen with our press. I happy with the way we played down the stretch."
The Lions head to the Pacific Northwest to take on No. 9 Gonzaga on Thursday, Feb. 14 and then Portland on Saturday, Feb. 16.
-GO LIONS-
