Dec. 19, 2009

Box Score | Photo Gallery

Audio Highlights via LMU Podcast Center
Audio Postgame Quotes via LMU Podcast Center

LOS ANGELES, Calif - In what seemed like a blink of the eye, LMU men's basketball took a tight contest and turned it into back-to-back wins. Behind the sharp-shooting of sophomore Jarred DuBois, Loyola Marymount hit their first nine shots of the second half to pull away from Cal State Bakersfield, earning an 84-71 win in non-conference action at Gersten Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.

LMU outscored the Roadrunners 23-7 in the first five minutes of the second stanza, hitting their first nine shots in the process. Delivering the knock-out punch in the run was DuBois, who hit four three-pointers, including three consecutive in that five-minute push. He finished with a game-high 24 points. He finished 8-for-14 from the field, 6-for-8 from long distance. In two games against CSUB in his career, he has scored 63 points.

"We did a great job of passing the ball around and getting the hot hand the ball in the first five minutes of the second half," said Head Coach Max Good. "And Jarred DuBois was really in the zone and had the hot hand. Ashley Hamilton really did a great job in driving to the basket and then making the extra pass to Jarred."

Vernon Teel added 13 points and Larry Davis had 11 as the Lions improve to 5-7 on the season and win back-to-back games for the first time since February of 2007. CSUB (1-8) was led by Trent Blakley with 20 points and Stephon Carter with 17.

The Lions led 37-30 at the break and took a double-digit lead, 42-30, after the Lions started the second half with a DuBois three-pointer and a dunk by Hamilton. The redshirt freshman from London started for the first time on the season and finished with nine points, nine rebounds, two assists and three blocks.

LMU kept pushing, building a 49-33 lead on a fast-break lay-in by Ashley Hamilton, a three-pointer by Drew Viney and a lay-in by Kevin Young just two minutes and 39 seconds into the second half.

Then DuBois took over, hitting three straight three-pointers, the third coming at 15:39 to make it 58-37. Viney capped the big start, giving the Lions a 60-37 lead, with a jumper with 15:10 to play. LMU's lead would get as large as 24, 63-39, with 13:02 to play.

The Lions finished the game hitting 10-for-21 from long range (47.6 percent) and 46.6 from the field overall. They held Cal State Bakersfield to just 37 percent shooting overall and 26.7 percent from three (4-for-15). It was the best shooting defense on the season for the Lions.

LMU will play again on Monday, Dec. 21 when they host Long Beach State in another doubleheader at Gersten Pavilion. The women will start the action at 6 p.m., against San Diego State. The men will follow 30 minutes after. Both games can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.