Feb. 27, 2010

Box Score

Coach Good Postgame Audio from LMU Podcast Center
Audio Highlights via LMU Podcast Center

MORAGA, Calif. - LMU and Saint Mary's put on a classic battle in the final game of the regular season in West Coast Conference, with the Gaels confirming why they are one of the top teams in the WCC and showing that Lions are climbing to be among them. The track meet affair saw the Gaels pull away late, earning an 88-80 win at McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, Calif., Saturday night.

For the Gaels, it took senior Omar Samhan, playing in his final home game, and his career-high 33 points to knock-off the balanced Lions, who were looking to knock off a conference leader for the third time in four games. Matthew Dellavedova added 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the free throw line to lead the Gaels down the stretch.

Jarred DuBois led four Lions in double figures with 18 points and six rebounds. Vernon Teel added 16 points while sophomore Tim Diederichs came off the bench for a season-high 12 points. Drew Viney added 11. Kevin Young went for nine points and nine rebounds.

Saint Mary's improves to 24-5 overall and 11-3 in the WCC. They will be the number two seed in the upcoming Zappos.com WCC Men's Basketball Championship at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., March 5-8. They will have a bye all the way to the semifinals to be played on Sunday, March 7.

The Lions see their three-game winning streak snapped and fall to 16-14 overall and 7-7 in the WCC. They will be the fifth seed and will take on eighth-seeded Pepperdine in the first round of the tournament on Friday, March 5 at 6 p.m.

"I am a fan of basketball, and that was a good one, but it was tough there to start the second half," said Head Coach Max Good. "They really came out strong and hit seven of their first nine shots to open the second half, and three of them were three-pointers. That got them the lead and we were forced to play from behind the rest of the way."

The Lions managed to finish the game shooting 52.4 percent from the field and went 8-for-11 from the free throw line. The Gaels, who shot just 40 percent in the opening 20 minutes, responded by going 59.3 percent in the second half to finish the game at 48 percent. They went 18-for-25 from the free throw line.

It was a break-neck type pace from the start and the Lions found themselves down 10, 26-16, early in the first half. However, they would not go away and a 12-0 run saw them take the lead, 28-26, on a DuBois lay-in with 6:21 to play. The Lions would not trail the rest of the first half and took a 43-41 lead into halftime.

The pace would get even quicker as the teams combined for 27 points in the first four minutes, including 17 by the Gaels in that opening stretch that Coach Good thought was so crucial. They would take a 58-53 lead at the first media timeout in the process.

Diederichs, who entered the game scoring nine points in the month of February, scored his first of two three-point plays in the second half to cut the Gaels' lead to 66-64 with 11:54 to play.

"We had no answer for Samhan in the post," said Good. "He showed why he might be the player of the year in this league. But I thought Tim Diederichs came off the bench and battled him tough. And he made some baskets tonight."

However, Saint Mary's would slowly build the lead to 10 points, 78-68 on a dunk by Samhan. LMU had one more push as Young scored on a lay-in and then DuBois hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to six, 79-73, with 6:11 to play.

"Down the stretch for about a two minute period there, it was a four to six point game, and before you know it, like walking in a mine field, we made some mistakes, and they took advantage and they got a couple of baskets to spread it out. But I was pleased with our effort down to the very end," said Good.

That would be as close as it would get down the stretch as the Gaels would hold the Lions without a point for more than five minutes. Teel would end the stretch with 54 seconds to play.

Saint Mary's finished the game with just six turnovers, while the Lions had 12. The Gaels converted those turnovers to a 20-6 edge in points.

Fans can follow the Lions in the WCC tournament on KXLU 88.9 FM as the flagship station for LMU basketball will cover every Lions' game for both the men and women.