Feb. 3, 2011

Box Score

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - For the fifth time in seven West Coast Conference games, LMU saw the game bounce off the rim in the closing seconds, falling to San Diego 66-63 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion Thursday night.

For the fifth time in six games the Lions were tied or held a lead on their opponent in the final minute only to see the game snatched away from them. The Lions fall to 9-14, 1-7 in the WCC while USD improves to 5-18 overall and 1-7 in the WCC. All told the five setbacks have been by a combined 15 points.

San Diego's Chris Gabriel did most of the damage in taking it away from the Lions, scoring a career-best 21 points, 19 coming in the second half. Ken Rancifer and Matt Dorr added 12 each for the Toreros. Anthony Ireland led the Lions with 12 while Drew Viney had 10.

"We had no answer for their big guy at all," said Head Coach Max Good. "He flat out kicked our tails. He was more physical and flat out took the game. He wanted it more than we did."

The Toreros finished the game shooting 50.9 percent while LMU hit 44.7 percent.

"Down the stretch we still had a chance to win it and we couldn't get the shots the fall," said Good. "We had a chance to pull away but couldn't score for over seven minutes, and it killed us."

With the game tied at the break, Gabriel took over. He would score the Toreros' first eight points of the second half to give USD a four-point lead, 41-37. But like the first half, the lead would change hands. LMU would regain the lead, 45-43, on an Ireland eight-footer with 12:29 to play. They stretched the lead to four on a floater by Viney with 11:50 to play.

USD would tie the game at 49-49 on a Gabriel floater and Tim Diederichs would give the Lions the lead right back, 51-49, with hard work under the basket with 9:19 to play.

The Lions would then go on a drought without a field goal for nearly seven minutes.

Meanwhile, Gabriel continued his hot second half, giving the Toreros the lead back, 55-54, on a hook shot with 6:50 to play. USD struggled to pull away during drought, but Gabriel managed to add to the lead, making it 61-56, with a layin and a free throw with 3:13 to play.

Viney would end the drought with 2:28 to play to cut the lead to 61-58. After a pair of Dorr free throws, LaRon Armstead hit a three-pointer and two free throws with 1:26 to play to tie the game at 63-63

Gabriel would get his 19th-point of the second half to give the Toreros the lead with 36 seconds left, 65-63.

The Lions had several chances in the final seconds. The Lions got the offensive rebound on Viney's three-pointer and in the final five seconds, the Lions had three shots under the basket, including Ayodeji Egbeyemi's drive to the basket and Armstead's tip attempt. All three wouldn't fall.

The game featured 15 lead changes and seven ties as the Lions managed just two field goals in the final nine minutes. USD, who started the game hitting just 1-for-6 free throws, hit 7-for-9 down the stretch to ice it.

LMU heads to Saint Mary's on Saturday, Feb. 5 to take on the Gaels at 5 p.m. The game will be on ESPN2 and can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.