Box Score Dec. 21, 2015 PORTLAND, Ore. - LMU's defense seemed to be doing what it does best, creating turnovers and turning them into points. It helped them to a 15-6 lead over Portland in the West Coast Conference opener with just over 13 minutes to play in the first. However, the three-pointer took over and the Pilots ran away with a 87-60 victory at the Chiles Center on Monday night.
The Pilots (7-7, 1-0) buried 10 first half three-pointers, eight in the final 10 minutes of the opening frame, and went on their way to finish with 14-for-33 (42.4 percent) for the win. They finished shooting 50.8 percent (31-for-61) for the game while the Lions (7-5, 0-1) hit just 36.4 percent (24-for-66).
Brandon Brown finished with 16 points and Steven Haney had 13. Bryce Pressley did the majority of the damage for the Pilots, hitting 7-for-13 from three to finish with 25 points. Jarrel Marshall was the only other Pilot in double figures with 12.
The Pilots finished the game out-rebounding the Lions 47-30 and had a 15-11 edge in second chance points. The Lions hit 7-for-20 from three but went just 5-for-13 from the free throw line. Portland went 11-for-13 from the charity stripe.
"They out-rebounded us by 17 on the boards and we gave up way too many easy baskets, meaning uncontested three-pointers," said Head Coach Mike Dunlap. "We then became one dimensional on offense. I like how we started but then we ran into the desert, allowing them to go on a 23-0 run. We never recovered."
Down 4-2 early, the Lions forced four turnovers and went on a 13-2 run to take a 15-6 lead with 13:35 to play. The Lions then led 19-11 after a Brown jumper with 10:51 to play. From there, the Pilots went on that 23-0 run, hitting five three-pointers in six scoring possessions to take control of the game.
The Lions head to Gonzaga on Wednesday, Dec. 23 to take on the Bulldogs at 6 pm. The game will be on ROOT Sports Northwest and on KXLU 88.9 FM.
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