Dec. 5, 2009

Box Score
Postgame Highlights from LMU Podcast Center

LARAMIE, Wyo. - The first nine games of the 2009-10 season is shaping up to be one of tough lessons as the Lions dropped their fifth down-to-wire contest of the season, this time to Wyoming, 76-70, at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyo., Saturday night.

The Lions fall to 3-6 on the season with five of those setbacks coming by six or fewer. In all five of those games, LMU had a lead or was tied with two minutes or fewer. Wyoming improves to 4-4.

"Early, missed opportunities on lay-ups and our turnovers put us in a hole," said Head Coach Max Good. "We fought hard to come back, but our missed opportunities early just killed us."

The Lions had 27 offensive rebounds to just 13 for the Cowboys and finished with a plus-23 advantage on the boards. Sophomore Kevin Young had his first double-double of the season with 16 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. Junior Vernon Teel added 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three steals. Given Kalipinde had a career-best 10 points.

However, Wyoming had 13 more points from the charity stripe and forced the Lions into 22 turnovers. Those turnovers equated to 23 points. Four players were in double figures for the Cowboys, led by 15 points from Ryan Dermody, who hit 4-for-7 from long range.

"We just were not aggressive enough in the first half on defense and were very lazy with the ball," said Good. "We did such a good job to fight back, but we were far too lazy on both ends of the ball early. We have to become a tougher team. A tougher team wins these games."

Trailing by as many as 13, the Lions stormed back in the second half. The defense got the run started, holding the Cowboys without a field goal for more than six minutes to start the second half. Wyoming started the second half just 1-for-12 from the field.

In that stretch, the Lions post a 19-7 run to take the lead, 50-49, on a three-pointer by Kalipinde with 12:21 to play.

The lead would go back-and-forth until Wyoming hit their second and third field goals of the half in successive possessions to take a 57-53 lead with 8:31 to play.

LMU would fight back again. Kalipinde's lay-in tied the game at 61-61 with 5:03 to play. Teel's free throws with 4:34 to play would give LMU the lead, 63-61. Teel's runner with 3:43 gave the Lions a 65-61 lead.

Then A.J. Davis, who was just 1-for-11 from the field, hit a pair of free throws to give Wyoming the lead back, 70-69, with 1:16 to play. After LMU's 20th turnover, Wyoming hit a fast break lay-up from Djibril Thiam with 48 seconds left to extend the lead to 72-69.

After a Young free throw, the Lions, who crushed Wyoming on the boards 53-30, got what they wanted as Daylen Harrison missed both free throws. However, Wyoming grabbed a rare offensive rebounded, Davis then hit two free throws to make it 74-70. JayDee Luster iced it with a lay-up in transition.

LMU looked to be the aggressor early, as redshirt freshman Ashley Hamilton came off the bench to score six straight points to give the Lions a 17-15 lead with 10:32 to play. He finished with nine points.

However, Wyoming went on an 8-0 run to take 23-17 lead with 6:45 to play in the half. Teel then cut the lead to 26-23 with 4:33 to play on back-to-back field goals of his own.

Another 8-0 run by the Cowboys stretched the lead to double-digits, 34-23, for the first time on the night. The run was capped by a three-point play by Desmar Jackson and free throws from Boubacar Sylla with 3:22 to play.

The Lions tailed by 11 at the break, 42-31, thanks to 13 turnovers and 38.2 percent shooting from the field. They finished shooting 39.1 percent, while Wyoming shot 38.6 percent. Sophomore Drew Viney had his first game of the season under 10 points, scoring seven with a career-best 11 boards.

LMU returns home to take on Montana for the second time this season. The game is Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7:05 p.m.