Nov. 30, 2005

Final Stats

Long Beach, CA (Nov. 30) - The Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team continued its shooting woes in the first half to start the season as they fell to Long Beach State, 93-85, at the Walter Pyramid on Wednesday night. The Lions finished the game shooting just 40 percent after starting the game hitting just 25 percent.

Junior Matthew Knight was the only answer for the Lions as he finished with his third double-double of the season and fourth of his career with a career-high 32 points and 18 rebounds. It was the best individual performance by the Lions since a 39-point, 18-rebound performance by Hank Gathers on Feb. 3, 1989.

After going 4-for-13 from the field for nine points in the first half, Knight did everything he could to get the Lions back in it by going 9-for-12 from the field with 23 points in the second. It wasn't enough as LMU falls to 1-4. Long Beach State, who improves to 2-2, was led by four players in double figures, including 19 from Shawn Hawkins and 16 from Kevin Houston. LMU falls to 1-12 all-time in Long Beach.

Wes Wardrop added 14 points, Brandon Worthy 12 and Daryl Pegram with 11. The Lions finished with a 46-42 edge in rebounds and forced 24 Long Beach State turnovers.

As has been the case the last four games, the Lions shooting woes started early to dig them into a hole. The Lions started the first 13 minutes of the game just 6-for-24 and trailed by as many as 12 in the first frame. A 3-for-11 start of the second half saw the 49ers stretch the lead to as many as 19, 59-40, at the 14:00 mark.

The Lions would not go away as they slowly chipped away at the lead to get as close as 80-70 on a three-pointer with Jon Ziri with 6:15 remaining. Long Beach State kept the lead around 10, but thanks to just a 1-for-6 effort at the free throw line for the 49ers in next three trips, the Lions were able to cut it to eight, 87-79 on a Wes Wardrop three-pointer and a putback by Knight.

LMU got the lead to 90-83 on a pair of free throws by Knight with 1:10 remaining. However, two free throws by Houston made the lead nine as LMU got no closer.

LMU finished the game attempting 27 more shots than the 49ers, but finished hitting just 40.0 percent (32-for-80). Long Beach State went 49.1 percent (26-for-53). After starting the game 0-for-8 from the three-point line, the 49ers hit six of their next eight to help build the double-digit lead. They finished 8-for-21 while LMU went 6-for-18.

Foul trouble compounded the problems for LMU, as three Lions fouled out and LMU was called with 31 fouls to the 49ers 18. Long Beach State went 12-for-16 at the charity stripe the first half compared to just 3-for-5 for the Lions. The 49ers finished the game 33-for-48 from the charity stripe while LMU went 15-for-21.

The Lions return home to take on another Big West Conference program in UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7:05 p.m. The game be heard live on Lions' All-Access through KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com.

- GO LIONS -