Jan. 7, 2006
Box Score
Los Angeles, CA (Jan. 7) - In his fourth and final season, Loyola Marymount senior Chris Ayer has been having a breakout season. He added to it when he hit a seven foot jumper at the buzzer to help the Lions erase a 17-point deficit and earn an 86-84 victory over San Diego to open West Coast Conference play on Saturday afternoon.
With the game tied at 84-84 with 14 seconds remaining, the Lions had the final possession. After the ball was kicked out of bounds by USD with six seconds left, the Lions called a single screen on senior Wes Wardrop, who then had the option to shoot or pass on the double.
The Toreros doubled on Wardrop, leaving Ayer open near the free throw line. The senior from Tucson, Ariz., delivered as the Lions start 1-0 in WCC play for the first time since the 2000-01 season when they defeated USD at home. LMU improves to 4-11 overall as San Diego falls to 10-4 and 0-1 in the WCC.
"We were due one," said Head Coach Rodney Tention, whose Lions had dropped five games at the buzzer this season. "After losing five, we had to get one. Guys really stepped up and made their shots. I hope this shows them that when we play as a team we can compete with anyone."
Ayer finished with 17 points as the Lions wrapped up his best shooting percentage of the year at 56.1 percent. Junior Matthew Knight led the Lions with 22 points and nine rebounds, hitting 10-for-13 from the field. Senior Wes Wardrop added 19 points and six assists. USD senior Nick Lewis led all scorers with 28 points, hitting 10-for-13 from the field and 6-for-8 from the three-point line. USD, the WCC's highest scoring offense, finished hitting 50 percent.
"This is a great win for us," said Ayer. "We really needed it. It was big to get a win, but it is bigger because it was the start of conference."
LMU looked to be left for dead as USD took its largest lead of 17 when Brandon Johnson hit a jumper with 9:36 remaining. However, they staged a comeback, going on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to nine, 72-63, with 8:40 remaining on a jumper by Wardrop.
The teams traded baskets before Worthy got it to eight, 67-75 with 6:02 on the clock. Lewis answered again and Ross DeRogatis chipped in a three-point play to push the lead back to 13, 80-67 with 4:37 on the clock.
Then the LMU bench staged a challenge to allow USD no more points the rest of the game. They nearly did it. The Lions erupted on an 18-0 run over the next four minutes to take their first lead of the second half. Knight trimmed the lead to nine, 80-71, at 3:35. LMU forced a turnover and Worthy's backdoor lay-in cut the lead to 80-73 with 3:15 on the clock. Ayer's dunk then cut it to five, 80-75, with 2:40 on the clock.
After hitting just two three pointers in the first 38 minutes, LMU hit back-to-back threes after back-to-back steals. Ziri hit the first with 1:59 on the clock to make it 80-78 and then Wardrop gave LMU the lead, 81-80, with a three with 1:40 remaining for the finish. Three free throws from Wardrop put the lead at 84-80 with 46 seconds remaining.
San Diego was not done. Ayer fouled Johnson with 35 seconds left and he hit both to make the score 84-82. LMU then committed a turnover with 20 seconds remaining to give USD the ball back. Ziri fouled Corey Belser, who hit both to set-up the final 16 seconds.
LMU will continue conference play when they host San Francisco on Monday, Jan. 9 at 7:05 p.m. at Gersten Pavilion. The game can be heard live on Lions' All-Access through KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com.
- GO LIONS -
