Dec. 10, 2009

Box Score | Through A Different Lens: Men's Basketball - Dec. 10

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Lions shot 58.6 percent in the first half and as the final seconds counted down, they looked to have a seven-point cushion. However, Montana used a 13-0 run, 10 of which started the second half, to erase that seven-point deficit and turn it into an 82-73 win over Loyola Marymount at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles, Calif., Thursday night.

"We did a good job in the first half running our offense, playing aggressive," said Head Coach Max Good. "Then we just flat out stopped in the second half. We were out of sync, and once again we made some bad decisions at key moments, and that killed us. We have been in so many games down the stretch, and just have not converted. We are young and hopefully we will learn how to close these out as the season progresses."

LMU (3-7) had four players in double figures, led by Drew Viney, who had his first double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Kevin Young added 18 points. Jarred DuBois and Given Kalipinde added 11 and 10, respectively.

Anthony Johnson did most of the damage down the stretch and led Montana (6-3) with 22 points, hitting 14-for-14 from the free throw line, including six with 25 seconds remaining to ice the game. Derek Selvig had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Trailing by seven, 42-38, the Grizzies hit the final three points of the first half and then opened the second half with 10-0 run to take a 48-42 lead. The Lions would tie the game at 54-54 with 12:28 in the half after a Young free throw. However, Montana would get the lead back to six, 62-56, and would keep the Lions at arms length the rest of the way.

LMU would get the lead to four multiple times, but Johnson, who had just six points at the break, had an answer each time. Viney's free throw's cut it to 68-64, with 1:44 to play. But Johnson would answer again on a driving lay-up. Viney hit another pair to make it 70-66, but Johnson, a 93-percent free throw shooter coming into the game, was fouled and hit a pair himself to make it 72-66.

Will Cherry then broke loose with 45 seconds left and put the lead at eight for the first time in the half, 75-66. The teams traded baskets before Viney hit a three-pointer to make it 76-71 with 27 seconds left.

Johnson then hit six straight free throws to put the game away.

The teams opened the first half on fire, combining to shoot 57 percent from the field. The game was tied five times and the lead changed hands five times as the Lions went into the locker room up, 42-38.

The lead could have been more, but it was Selvig who capped an electric first half by hitting that three-pointer with six seconds left to start the run. He finished with 15 of his 18 points in the first half, hitting 6-for-8 from the field and 3-for-5 from three.

After the torrid first half pace, the Lions shot just 39.1 percent in the second half while Montana hit 45.2 percent. LMU finished the game hitting 50 percent from the field while Montana hit 49 percent.

There will be no rest for the Lions as they will fly to take on Notre Dame first thing Friday morning and will take on the 9-1 Fighting Irish on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 5:00 p.m (PT). The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM