Feb. 25, 2010

Box Score Coach Good Postgame Audio Quotes
Game Highlights via the LMU Podcast Center

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Don't tell LMU's Drew Viney about any let down. The sophomore had a career-best 35 points with eight rebounds to lift the Lions to a come-from-behind, grind-it-out, 72-69 win over San Diego at Jenny Craig Pavilion on Thursday night in West Coast Conference action.

It is the third straight win over the Lions and fifth in the last six contests as they improve to 16-13 overall, and 7-6 in the WCC. The 16 wins is the most since they had 18 in 1995-96. USD falls to 9-20 overall and 2-11 in the WCC.

The win moves the Lions into a tie for fourth place in the WCC standings with San Francisco, who fell to Portland 70-59. The Lions need a win over Saint Mary's and a San Francisco loss to Gonzaga on Saturday to earn a first-round bye in the upcoming Zappos.com WCC Men's Basketball Championship in Las Vegas, Nev., March 5-8.

"In some respects, while it is gruesome to go through the process of games like this, it is almost more satisfying to win a game like that," said Head Coach Max Good. "We clearly weren't at our best, but we found a way, and that is what good teams do. We gutted it out at the end. I thought our guys did a good job of getting the ball to Drew in a position to score."

And score he did. Viney finished 13-for-18 from the field, hitting 4-for-7 from the three-point line and a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. Kevin Young added 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Chris Lewis led San Diego with 13 points while Patrick McCollum and Roberto Mafra had 12 each.

"We didn't have the balance I would like, but the team did the other things to pull this one out. Jarred DuBois and Given Kalipinde both had four big defensive rebounds down the stretch. Kevin Young hit a huge three and then had an unbelievable rebound that we would turn around and score on late," said Good. "It's those little things that good teams do when they aren't firing on all cylinders."

San Diego broke open a tie game at the break with the first six points out of the lockerroom to take a 40-34 lead. It was the largest lead of the game for USD, and it would hold for the first 17 minutes of the 20-minute second half.

The Lions got the lead to one six times but USD would answer every time, until 2:54 to play.

After Viney cut the lead to 65-64 with 3:49 on a pair of free throws, Viney would force a turnover and on the next trip Young would hit that three-pointer with 2:54 to play, giving LMU their first lead, 67-65, since the 7:50 mark of the first half.

After a single free throw from McCollum, Viney drove to the basket, scored on a floater and was fouled. After the free throw, he extended the Lions lead to 70-66 with 1:58 to play.

VIney would then fittingly give the Lions the final cushion they need with two free thows with just 31.7 seconds remaining, pushing the lead to 72-66. A Mafra free throw and a McCollum field goal with three seconds left cut it to three. But McCollum's shot from beyond half court fell short.

The Lions took the early lead in the game thanks to Viney's 13 points in the first 10 minutes. Viney started 5-for-8 while the rest of the Lions were 5-for-22. The shooting woes saw USD overcome the Lions' early eight-point lead and take its first lead with 7:11 to play, 22-21.

Lewis hit his third three of the half to give USD a 31-27 with 2:27 to play, their largest of the half. The Lions would tie it at 31-31 with back-to-back buckets from Viney and Young. IN the final minute the teams would trade three-pointers, including DuBois with 34 seconds left to send the game into halftime tied at 34.

Viney would finish with 17 points and seven rebounds in the first frame.

The Lions finish the regular season at Saint Mary's on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. The game is on Comcast SportsNet California and will be rebroadcast on FSN Prime Ticket at 9 p.m. The game will also be live on KXLU 88.9 FM.