Jan. 29, 2004

Box Score

Los Angeles, CA (Jan. 29) - The Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team dropped a 64-52 decision to the University of San Francisco in West Coast Conference action at Gersten Pavilion Thursday night.

The Dons (13-9/3-3) played a full court pressure the entire game and held the Lions to 32 percent shooting in the second half to pull away down the stretch. The Lions (10-9/1-5) were held without a field goal for more than five minutes in the final portion of the second half as USF took a five-point lead and stretched it to 13. LMU finished the game hitting 37 percent from the field while the Dons hit 49 percent.

Senior Sherman Gay led all scorers with 14 points, six rebounds and three blocks as the Lions' defense kept the game close until the scoreless stretch. LMU forced 22 USF turnovers while gathering 11 steals, including six by freshman Damian Martin and three by junior Charles Brown, who also had 11 points.

San Francisco was led by Jevon Harris with 13 points and eight rebounds. Tyrone Riley added 11 points and 11 rebounds as the Lions were once again hurt on the offensive glass. USF outrebounded the Lions 39-26, gathering 15 offensive boards to the Lions' 12.

Trailing 46-36 with 12:47 remaining, the Lions went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 46-41 on a free throw by freshman Matthew Knight. The first-year player from Australia had another big night off the bench with nine points and seven rebounds in 26 minutes.

However, USF answered with a 5-0 run of their own to go up 55-45 with 8:04 remaining. The Lions would cut the lead to 55-47 with 7:55 left on a lay-up by Gay. However, LMU would not score another field goal until Brown hit a driving lay-in with 2:03 remaining to make the lead 61-48.

The injury bug hit again for the Lions as second leading scorer Keith Kincade had to leave half way through the second period with an ankle sprain. He finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

The Lions will take on Saint Mary's, who fell to Pepperdine 86-82 on Thursday, this Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7:05 p.m.

- GO LIONS -