Box Score Nov. 14, 2014
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LOS ANGELES - LMU opened the Mike Dunlap era with a 76-66 win over SE Missouri State in the second game of the LMU Classic at Gersten Pavilion Friday night. The Lions shot 52.8 percent and held a plus-13 rebound edge to pull away late in a game that featured 12 ties and eight lead changes.
It was a game of runs as the Lions opened a lead as large as 11 in the second half only to see SE Missouri State (0-1) come back. In the end, the Lions finished six-for-seven from the field to stretch a two-point margin into the 10-point win in Dunlap's first game as head coach of his alma mater.
"It was a game of runs and I was proud of how we hung in there when we lost our leads," said Dunlap. "We found a way to win because of our rebounding and our shooting."
The Lions finished with a 41-28 edge on the glass, evening out the fact the Redhawks had just three turnovers on the night. David Humphries led the Lions with eight rebounds while Patson Siame and Ayodeji Egbeyemi had seven each.
"We played a team that has a lot of experience and is very athletic," said Dunlap. "We knew it was going to be a game more about guts and heart than technique. We showed a lot of that tonight."
The Lions bench came up big as sophomore Evan Payne led all scorers with 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting in just 23 minutes off the bench. Four Lions were in double figures, including Matt Hayes with 13 in 26 minutes off the bench. Two Lion starters added double figures, including Egbeyemi with 13 points and Marin Mornar with 10. The Lions outscored SEMO 43-6 off the bench.
Nino Johnson led the Redhawks with 22 points.
With a jumper by Egbeyemi and a three-pointer by Hayes, the Lions opened the second half stretching their lead to 11, 45-34.
However, a 2-for-14 slump saw the Redhawks erase the lead and take one of their own, 53-51 with 10:49 to play. The lead would change hands and get tied twice more, the final time at 56-56 with 7:10 to play.
LMU would take the lead for good thanks to a 9-0 run on buckets from Mornar and Humphries, and five points from Hayes, including his third three-pointer of the game that made it 65-56 with 4:14 to play. SEMO managed to get the lead down to a pair, 65-63 with 2:50 to play but Mornar ended the run with a 17-footer. The Redhawks would get no closer.
The LMU Classic continues on Saturday when SE Missouri State faces San Diego at 2:30 pm, followed by the Lions taking on Boise State at 5 pm.
Game 1: Boise State 81, San Diego 75
Game 1 Box Score 
Anthony Drmic hit a trio of three-pointers to score 21 points with nine rebounds, helping the Broncos pull away down the stretch to earn an 81-75 win over San Diego in game one.
Five Broncos had double-digits, including 12 from David Wacker and Mikey Thompson, and 10 from Montigo Alford and Rob Heyer off the bench. Boise State shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and 46.9 percent for the game.
Johnny Dee led all scorers with 25 points, hitting 7-for-15 from the field and 4-for-9 from three. The rest of the Toreros went 1-for-10 from long range as they finished 26.3 percent from three and 40 percent from the field.
