Feb. 3, 2007

Box Score

Los Angeles, CA (Feb. 3) - The Loyola Marymount men's basketball team used 64 percent shooting to jump out to a lead as large as 20 in the first half and then used clutch free throw shooting from an unlikely source as they held off the University of Portland 74-59 in West Coast Conference action Saturday night at Gersten Pavilion.

For the first time on the season the Lions had four players in double digits, led by junior Jon Ziri, who came off the bench with 17 points to tie a career high, going 10-for-12 from the free throw line. Senior Adoyah Miller added 17, senior John Montgomery added a career-best 11 and senior Matthew Knight chipped in 13 points and six rebounds to move to 12th all-time in career scoring with 1,380 and ninth all-time in career rebounds with 710.

The Lions improve to 10-14 overall and 2-6 in the WCC while Portland falls to 6-18 and 2-6.

"It feels really good to get a win at home," said Head Coach Rodney Tention. "We really came out focused on what we needed to do. We executed on both ends of the floor really well, especially at the start that set a good tone for us the rest of the game."

The Lions had their best half of the season to open the game, shooting 64 percent to build a lead as big as 20 with 4:09 remaining. They would take a 40-23 lead into the break, their largest and only sixth halftime lead of the season. Miller led the push with 11 while Knight had 10.

In the second frame, it was Ziri who kept the Pilots at arms length. Ziri, a fourth-year player from Tempe, Ariz., entered the game hitting 54.6 percent from the charity stripe on the season (22-for-39) and 46.4 percent in his career. While his teammates struggled, going a combined 6-for-19 (31.6 percent), Ziri raised his season average over eight percent in the win.

He scored 12 of his 17 in the second half, with all 10 free throws in the final stanza. The Lions saw their lead shrink to 10, 54-44 on a three pointer by Darren Cooper, who led all scorers with 19, with 7:13 remaining.

However, Miller came right back and hit a three pointer to put the lead back to 13, 57-44. After a defensive stop by the Lions, Ziri came down and put in a two-handed slam off a rebound to put the flow of the game back to the Lions. After senior Derick Grubb gave LMU a 61-46 lead, the Pilots began fouling with 5:00 remaining. Ziri would score 10 of the Lions remaining 13 points all from the charity stripe to clinch it.

"Jon came off the bench and really played with the role we asked him to play," said Tention. "He provided great energy and his effort on the free throw line in practice is starting to pay off."

The Lions outscored Portland 22-5 on turnovers, forcing the Pilots into 18 on the night while only committing 10 themselves. LMU finished the game shooting 25-for-53 (47.2 percent) while Portland went 18-for-44 (40.9 percent).

The Lions will face Gonzaga on ESPN2's Big Monday. The game is set for 9 p.m. on Feb. 5.