Jan. 20, 2005
Final Stats
Los Angeles, CA (Jan. 20) - Loyola Marymount University men's basketball couldn't overcome another tough night shooting and another starter out with an injury as they fall to Santa Clara University 68-57 at Gersten Pavilion Thursday night.
The Lions, who already lost starting point guard Brandon Worthy for five weeks and starting small forward Adoyah Evans-Miller for the year with a back strain, had to sit starting power forward Daryl Pegram with a bad left knee. With the injuries, the Lions' struggles continued offensively, shooting just 29 percent in the first half and 36 percent for the game.
"We played well enough defensively tonight," said Head Coach Steve Aggers. "But we could not make a basket tonight. We have three starters hurt and on the bench. That is not an excuse, but a fact. It is the way it is. We have to figure out how to get offense with the players we have on the floor."
Leading the Lions was sophomore Matthew Knight with 20 points and six rebounds. Senior Charles Brown added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Lions before fouling out with 1:03 remaining.
"Matty had another great night offensively for us and Charles responded with 15," said Aggers. "However , we have to figure out a way to get others involved in the offense."
Despite the poor shooting in the first frame, the Lions were down just six, 30-24 at the break. Knight had 10 points in the first frame as the LMU played all 10 players in uniform. The Lions battled back, shooting 55 percent at one point in the second, getting the lead to as low as three, 36-33 on a pair of free throws by Brown with 14:03 remaining.
Santa Clara would answer and get the lead to as large as 11 with 10:44 to play on a five-footer by Travis Niesen. LMU would continue to battle, cutting the lead to five, 58-53, on a break away lay-up by Dustin Brown with 4:09 remaining. However, Kyle Bailey continued to provide the Broncos the answer when they needed it, hitting a jumper with 3:36 to make it 60-53 with 3:38 remaining.
"Bailey had a great second half for them and went crazy," said Aggers. "We have struggled to find that go to guy down the stretch to hit that basket when we need it. Bailey was that for them tonight. He was there go to guy and he hit the shots when they needed them." Bailey led all scorers with 27 points, hitting nine-of-15 from the field. Niesen added 10.
Dustin Brown cut the lead back to five, 60-55, with 3:03 remaining on a pair of free throws. However, the Lions would go cold again from the field, not hitting a field goal the final four minutes of the second half. They also went cold the final four minutes of the first half.
The Lions finished the game with 18 assists on the 22 field goals and turned the ball over just 10 times. Brown had seven assists in 29 minutes of play.
LMU will take on Saint Mary's on Saturday, Jan. 22 at 7:05 p.m. to close the weekend home series.
- GO LIONS -
