Feb 6, 2003
Final Stats
Los Angeles, CA (Feb. 6) - The Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team received a balanced offensive attack and came within a field goal of a season high to defeat the University of Portland 86-71 at Gersten Pavilion on Thursday night.
The Lions had five players in double figures to improve to 8-15 overall and 2-6 in the West Coast Conference. Sophomore Andy Osborn continued his dominance of the Pilots, scoring 19 points to give him an 18-point average against Portland this season. The Pilots' record falls to 9-12 overall and 2-6 in the WCC.
"This was a good win for our program," said Head Coach Steve Aggers. "We have worked really hard the last two weeks in practice to get better and improve as a team. It was great that our team's effort were rewarded."
LMU finished the game hitting on 51 percent from the field, making 26-of-51 shots. They held Portland to 45 percent (24-of-53) from the floor and kept the WCC's second leading three-point shooting team to 0-for-5 from long distance in the first half. They finished seve-of-16 for the game.
"We played pretty well defensively in the first half," said Aggers. "I was happy with our intensity and how we defended the three-pointer."
Joining Osborn in double figures was freshman Brandon Worthy with 14, including a 10-for-10 effort from the free throw line. Freshman Chris Ayer added a career-high 13 points, junior Keith Kincade had 12 and sophomore Charles Brown added 11.
"We played we real intensity tonight," said Aggers. "Andy had a great first half, Brandon had a great floor game and Kent [Dennis] came off the bench and played well."
The Lions had a hot start taking a 10-0 lead with 16:48 remaining when Kincade hit a jumper. However, the Pilots would come back and go on a 19-8 run to take the lead at 19-18 when Patrick Galos hit a pair of free throws with 9:14 remaining.
LMU would rebuild the lead to eight, 32-24 with 4:50 remaining on a pair of free throws by Wardrop. Freshman John Haywood would make the lead 35-26 with 3:21 remaining with one of two free throws.
Osborn would give the Lions their largest lead of the first half with his sixth field goal of the first half, making the score 37-26 with 1:25 remaining. After a field goal by Dustin Geddis, his fifth of the half, Osborn would hit another field goal at the buzzer to give the Lions a 39-28 lead at the half. Osborn finished with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the first half. Geddis had 13 in the first frame and finished with 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting.
Portland worked back into the game in the second half thanks to the three-pointer, cutting the lead to 56-54 with 9:30 remaining on a long ball by Adam Quick, who finished with 18 points. Worthy would hit a pair of free throws with 9:00 remaining to make the score 58-54. Quick hit another with 8:29 remaining, cutting the score 58-57.
The teams would trade one-point leads until Brown would hit on one of two free throws with 6:37 to make it 63-61. Geddis would then foul Worthy and would pick another foul on a technical, giving him five in the game. Worthy would hit all four free throws to make it 67-61 with 6:24.
Casey Frandsen would hit a three pointer with 6:09 making it 67-64. It was as close as the Pilots would get as the Lions would stretch the lead to double digits when Kincade hit two free throws making it 77-67 with 2:53 left. The Lions hit 31-of-42 free throws on the game, including a 23-for-27 effort in the second half.
Sophomore Sherman Gay would make it 79-67 with 1:50 remaining on a five-footer. After a Portland miss, Kincade would hit both free throws with 1:23 making it 81-67. Wilson would make it 81-69 with 1:10. Dennis would make it 82-69 with 1:03 on one of two free throws. The Lions would hold on to the double-digit lead for the biggest conference win in four years.
The Lions will host Gonzaga on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7:05 p.m.
