Jan. 17, 2004

Final Stats

Santa Clara, CA (Jan. 17) - Loyola Marymount University men's basketball fell to Santa Clara University 70-54 in West Coast Conference action Saturday night. The Lions (9-7/1-3) could not answer the Broncos (11-7/3-0) hot outside shooting in a physical contest in Santa Clara, Calif.

The Broncos opened up the game hitting 7-of-16 three-pointers, five in the first half, as they were led by Doron Perkins with 3-for-4 from the three-point line and a team-high 17 points. The Lions answered with senior Sherman Gay who continues his hot play, getting his first career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

However, the Broncos took the Lions out of their offense as they finished 40 percent from the field and Gay had just one field goal in the second half, that coming with just 18 second left. Senior Keith Kincade added 15 points for the Lions. In addition, the Broncos finished with a 34-30 edge on the boards, including 14 offensive boards that led to 13 second chance points.

"We have to improve our rebounding if we are going to compete in this league," said Head Coach Steve Aggers. "Our big guys have to do better and keeping our opponents from getting second chances."

For the Lions they end a tough stretch, playing their fourth WCC contest in eight days. They will return home for a non-conference contest against Northern Colorado on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 7:05 p.m. They will then take on Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 24.

Thanks to that hot shooting, Santa Clara built a 13-point lead midway through the first half and then started the second half on a 10-2 run to take a 16-point lead, 46-30. They never looked back as the Lions could get the lead down to just 10 when sophomore Chris Ayer hit a jumper with 4:03 remaining, 56-46.

"We made several runs at them and were at the edge of getting over the hump," said Aggers. "But they seemed to answer every time we were in position to make a serious run."

The game started on a fast pace as the teams traded leads four times as the Lions took a 7-5 lead on a jumper by Gay. However, the Broncos went on a 8-0 run in a five minute span to take a 33-20 lead on a three-pointer by Perkins with 4:43 left.

"Their guards, Perkins and Baily, player really well tonight and great a lot of open looks tonight," said Aggers.

Free throws down the stretch by the Broncos stretched the lead back to 16 for the final.

- GO LIONS -