Jan. 13, 2007

Box Score

Los Angeles, CA (Jan. 13) - With the inactive roster starting to be more in number than those eligible to play, the shorthanded Loyola Marymount men's basketball team fell to the University of San Francisco in West Coast Conference action on Saturday night, 68-61, in overtime.

The Lions overcame a 10-point second half deficit and held USF without a field goal the final eight minutes and just one field goal in the final 12 minutes to send the game to the extra frame. LMU held USF to just five second half field goals and just 26 percent from the floor (5-19) to get back into the contest.

However, USF went 5-for-7 in overtime while LMU went just 1-for-5 as the Dons pulled away to improve to 6-11 overall and 2-0 in the WCC. LMU falls to 8-11 overall and 0-3 in conference play.

"We did a good job on defense in the second half, but we have to translate our defense to offense," said Head Coach Rodney Tention. "It does not do us much good if we can't score. We played well enough to win."

Senior Matthew Knight led all scorers with 20 points, including his three-point play with 1:14 remaining to tie it at 53-53 and send it to the extra frame. With the game tied at 55-55, the Dons took the lead for good on Danny Cavic's three-point play that saw sophomore Marko Deric foul out of the game. He finished with nine points and six rebounds.

After Knight went 1-for-2 from the free throw line, USF scored six straight to make it 64-58 with 1:03 remaining. Knight scored the Lions' lone field goal of the extra frame to put the score at 64-58. The Lions would get no closer.

Knight added 10 rebounds to his total for his 23rd career double-double, fifth all-time in LMU history. Junior Damian Martin had his best game of his playing career, going for his first career double-double. He scored a career-best 16 points with another career-high in 14 rebounds. Nine of his 14 boards where on the offensive end, setting up his 7-for-12 shooting effort. He added five steals and three assists. Senior Adoyah Miller added 11 points.

The Lions were without the services of four scholarship players, three of which were projected to start at the beginning of the season (Brandon Worthy, Jon Ziri and Terron Sutton). Despite being shorthanded, the Lions held the Dons to 42.6 percent from the floor. LMU managed to hit 37.3 percent in the setback.

Turnovers hurt the Lions again as USF scored 23 points off 22 LMU turnovers while LMU scored 18 off 19 USF turnovers.

"Turnovers are a killer and we keep having way too many. I was a huge part of that," said Martin, who despite his monster game also had seven turnovers while playing in 43 of the game's 45 minutes. "We have to work on that and get better. We shouldn't have lost that game at home. Every game is a must win at home and in conference. Now Monday's against San Diego is even more important."

The Lions missed out on a chance to win their fifth straight against the Dons for the first time in school history. LMU had won four straight heading into Saturday's game.

The Lions homestand continues with the Toreros on Monday night at 8 p.m.