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LOS ANGELES - LMU men's basketball erased a 14-point deficit to earn a 68-67 win over UC San Diego in the lone exhibition game to start the 2014-15 season and the tenure of Head Coach Mike Dunlap at Gersten Pavilion Thursday night.

The Lions trailed by 14 midway through the first half but erased the lead thanks to 55.6 percent shooting in the opening frame and 51 percent shooting on the night. The Lions showed the team-first philosophy on offense by hitting 25 field goals with 18 assists.

"We found something that really worked and we stayed with it," said Dunlap. "The plan was to go through the middle. I love the we part of our our offense tonight. We want to continue to enjoy the we part in playing offense together."

The Lions outscored the Tritons 35-12 in the paint and got 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting from senior Godwin Okonji. He added seven rebounds and five assist with a steal before fouling out. Transfer David Humprhies led the Lions with 23 points, hitting 7-for-15 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers. Senior Ayodeji Egbeyemi added 15 points.

"We are focused on the process each and every day," said Dunlap. "I really like our chemistry and that will be our key. To work hard every time we are on the floor as a team. To own each piece of this process. The game should be a joy and saw a lot of that from our guys tonight."

UC San Diego's Drew Dryer, who led the Tritons with 20 points and 11 rebounds, hit a jumper with 10:12 to play in the opening half for their largest lead of the game, 28-14. It remained at double digits when Jeff Van Dyke hit a jumper with 6:51 to play, making it 34-23.

The Lions would then get rolling, posting a 13-0 run in just over four minutes to take a 37-34 lead. It was a balanced run as Okonji and Humphries had four points, Egbeyemi added three and Marin Mornar had a pair during the run. It was Okonji's jumper with 2:23 to go that gave them the lead.

Van Dyke when a three at the halftime buzzer to send the game into the locker room tied at 37.

The game would see several lead changes to start the second half until Humphries hit a three-pointer with 13:20 to play to give the Lions a 51-46 lead. The lead would stretch to nine, 66-57, on a pair of free throws from Humpries with 2:11 to go.

However, the Tritons didn't go away as Dryer and Grant Jackson hit the Tritons' 10th and 11th three-pointers of the game to cut the lead to 66-63. After a steal, Jackson made it a one-point game, 66-65 with 47 seconds left on jumper.

The Lions would get an offensive rebound from Patson Siame and then a bucket by Mornar with two seconds left to put the lead back to three, 68-65. The Tritons hit a lay-in at the buzzer for the final margin.

"I thought we showed our youth down the stretch in letting go of that lead," said Dunlap. "But I was happy with the team effort tonight."

The Lions finished the game out rebounding the Tritons 39-25 and had a 15-7 edge in second chance points.

LMU will open the 2014-15 season at the LMU Classic presented by the Office of International Students and Scholars on Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15. The Lions open with SE Missouri state on Friday at 6 pm, followed by Boise State on Saturday at 5 pm. San Diego will also play in the classic, taking on Boise State to open the tournament at 3:30 on Friday and then SE Missouri St. on Saturday at 2:30 pm.

Season and individual tickets are on sale at LMULions.com.