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LOS ANGELES - The ever-improving LMU men's basketball team used a career-high 27 point performance from junior Marin Mornar to earn a 70-61 win over San Diego in West Coast Conference action on Thursday night at Gersten Pavilion.

With the win, the Lions (8-16, 4-8) put together back-to-back conference victories and have won three of their last four. They finished the game hitting 54.5 percent from the field, its best shooting effort since the 2011-12 season.

"We are learning how to win at home and with the lead," said Head Coach Mike Dunlap. "Once we got the lead, we never let go of it. Our shot selection was impeccable tonight. We are getting more comfortable playing deeper in the shot clock, as evident by our shooting percentage."

Mornar set a career-high in scoring for the fifth time in eight games by scoring 20 of his 27 in the first half. He finished 8-for-10 from the field and hit 11-for-12 from the free throw line. He added nine rebounds in 39 minutes of action. He was joined in double figure by Evan Payne with 19 points.

The Lions held the Toreros to 44 percent shooting on the night as Johnny Dee led all scorers with 29 points (12-12, 5-7). USD finished 7-for-19 from three (36.8 percent) while the Lions were an efficient 7-for-15 (46.7 percent).

Junior David Humphries hit 3-for-5 from three to finish with nine points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.

"We were solid on the work-horse stuff," said Dunlap. "We out-worked them on the boards and our assist total continues to stay over 17. Our turnovers weren't bad, we would like to be around 10, by 12 is reasonable."

The Lions finished the game with a 30-26 edge on the board, earning a 13-4 edge in second chance points. Godwin Okonji had five rebounds, four on the offensive glass as he finished with nine points, four assists and two steals. Mornar also had four offensive rebounds.

With the game tied at 13, the Lions went on a 7-1 run to take a 20-14 lead. Then up 30-26, they closed the half on an 8-2 run to go up 10 at the half, 38-28, thanks to Payne's three-pointer with five seconds left.

Then in the second half, the Lions built a lead as large as 12, 46-34, thanks to a pair of three-pointers from Humphries and a jumper by Okonji.

San Diego would not go away. Trailing 56-45, they posted a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 56-52 with 6:44 to play. Payne's three-point play ended the run. The Lions would get the lead back to seven, 61-54, on a Mornar jumper.

USD would go on a 7-2 to cut the lead to a pair, 63-61, on a three-pointer by Chris Sarbaugh with 1:29 left in the game. However, the Lions would not allow another point and Mornar would deliver the final blow with a three-point play with 57 second remaining.

The Lions will host BYU on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 1 pm for the WCC Game of the Week and the LMU Family Weekend game.