March 17, 2010

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - LMU men's basketball, playing in their first postseason in 20 years and first at home in program history, saw their record season come to a close on Wednesday night, as Pacific's Sam Willard had career-highs of 23 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Tigers to an 86-76 victory in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament at Gersten Pavilion.

The Tigers (21-11) built up a 20-point first half lead before holding on as the Lions made a run to get back to within three in the second.

"This was a good season," said Head Coach Max Good. "But we aren't satisfied, so it wasn't a great season. Playing in this tournament meant a lot to our program as we got to play a great team. And great teams show your weaknesses. Tonight they showed us we have to get stronger. And a little taller."

For the Lions, an historic season comes to a close, having turned around a program that won five games in 2007-08 and three last year. With a roster that features no seniors, LMU (18-16) had the second largest win-turnaround in school history and had the second-best in the country behind Coastal Carolina.

Junior Vernon Teel led the Lions with 22 points, five assists in 39 minutes. Drew Viney added 17 points and six rebounds while Kevin Young added 13 and five.

Pacific, the Big West Conference regular season co-champions making their second successive CIT appearance, shot nearly 70 percent in the first half and connected on a season-high 60 percent for the game, the highest percentage shot against LMU this year.

Willard's eighth career double-double was supported by four other Tigers in double figures. Michael Nunnally and Joe Ford each had 12 and Allen Huddleston and Lavar Neufville both came off the bench for 10 to give Pacific a huge lift from its reserves, outscoring the LMU bench 25-7.

A 10-day layoff since the West Coast Conference semifinals showed for LMU in the first half as they were chasing a double-digit lead for most of the contest. The Lions got two quick baskets from Viney but then went cold against the Pacific zone, missing their next 13 shots as Pacific mounted an 18-1 run over the next eight minutes and never trailed again.

The Tigers, who start two seniors and three juniors from last year's team that made the CIT Final Four, showed that postseason experience, shooting 16-of-23 in the first half to take a 17-point lead into the locker room. LMU had little answer for Willard inside as he hit 6-of-7 from the floor and had 12 points and eight rebounds at the half.

"It was a tale of two halves," said Good. "We just came out tentative and I am not sure why. But we got really aggressive in the second half. With 51 second half points and just seven turnovers, you would have thought we won. But the first half, we could hit the ocean."

LMU made a number of runs in the second half. A pair of three-pointers from Jarred DuBois highlighted a 7-0 LMU run coming out of the break as the Lions immediately cut the margin to 10. Pacific soon restored a 15-point advantage but a 14-2 LMU run over the next five minutes, with points from five different sources, made it a three-point game, 51-48, with 11:37 to play.

Pacific answered right back with a Willard layup, a three-point play from Ford, and a three by Huddleston to open the lead back up to 11. LMU had one last run, getting back to a 68-63 on a Viney three with 4:56 left but that would be it as Neufville scored five straight points to build the Tiger lead back to double figures. Pacific hit its free throws to hold off the Lions.