Feb. 25, 2011

Box Score

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - On a day when all four games in West Coast Conference action went down to the wire, including three into overtime, it was only fitting that LMU and Santa Clara would end the day in double overtime.

As has been the theme of the Lions season, they were on the wrong end of another close one, falling to the Broncos in two extra frames, 94-88, at the Leavey Center Thursday night in Santa Clara.

Drew Viney had his ninth career double-double with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Anthony Ireland equaled a career-high with 21 points and Vernon Teel added 17. Marc Trasolini led all scorers with 31 points, going 17-for-20 from the free throw line.

It was free throw shooting that was the difference as the Broncos went 37-for-42 from the charity stripe (88.1 percent), hitting their first 22 on the night and scoring 20 of their 28 overtime points at the free throw. LMU was 14-for-22.

Santa Clara (17-13, 7-6) was 4-for-6 from the field and 20-for-25 from the free throw line in the two overtime periods. LMU went 6-for-19 from the field (31.6 percent) and 10-for-12 from the free throw line (83.3 percent).

"You have to give them credit, they hit them," said Head Coach Max Good, who had four players foul out as the Lions were called for 31 fouls to 20 for the Broncos. "Its very frustrating. I have yet to figure out how to guard the free throw line."

LMU, led by freshman Ayodeji Egbeyemi and the senior Teel, held the WCC's leading scorer and nation's top three-pointer shooter, Kevin Foster, to just 11 points on 4-for-18 shooting, 1-for-11 from the three-point line while forcing him into 10 turnovers.

He entered leading the nation with 105 three-pointers and averaging more than 19 points per contest. For the game, Santa Clara hit just 3-for-18 (16.7 percent).

"Vernon for the first part of the game and Ayodeji for the rest really did a tremendous job on Foster," said Good. "The committed to stopping him, and they did. It might have been the best anyone has defended him all year."

Egbeyemi finished the game playing 47 of the 50 minutes, scoring six points with five assists, five rebounds and two steals.

The Lions opened the first seven minutes of the game hitting 7-of-10 shots while holding the Broncos to 3-of-16 shooting to post a 15-8 lead after a Viney jumper with 13:23 to play.

Santa Clara would hold the Lions without a point for more than five minutes, hold them to 3-of-10 shooting in an eight minutes pan and take a 33-22 on Evan Roquemore's three-pointer with 2:31 to play.

The Lions would not allow another point and close on an 8-0, all by Viney, to cut it to three, 33-30 at the break. Viney had 17 points at the break.

LMU would control the first part of the second half, taking a 56-47 lead on a three-pointer by Ireland with 9:28 to play. The Broncos would fight back and take a 66-65 lead with :23 seconds left on Troy Payne's jumper.

On the next possession, Ireland was fouled driving the line with 1.6 left and hit 1-of-2 to send the game to overtime.

The teams then made a combined three field goals in the first overtime, scoring 10 of the 16 points from the charity stripe. Ben Dowdell, who finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds, hit two free throws to give Santa Clara a 74-73 lead with 46 seconds to play.

Teel was then fouled at the perimeter and hit 1-of-2 free throws with 35 seconds left to tie it at 74-74 to send it to the second overtime.

With the game tied at 76-76, Santa Clara went on a 13-4 lead to take an 89-80 lead with 53 seconds left. Nine of the 13 points came from the free throw line.

The game featured 11 ties and nine lead changes. LMU finished the game hitting 49.3 percent from the field while SCU was 40.9 percent.

LMU completes regular season play at San Francisco on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. The game can be heard at KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com.