Final Stats

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ARLINGTON, Texas - The Lions executed its game plan and led by as many as 13 points in the second-half, outrebounding University of Texas Arlington by 39-29, but the Mavericks found a way to comeback late and take the season-opener, 85-80.

The Lions went down five points with less than a minute on the clock before James Batemon was fouled on a three-pointer and knocked down all three free throws with 34 seconds on the clock. UTA knocked split their next two after the Lions were forced foul, giving Joe Quintana a look at three to tie it. Following the miss, UTA knocked down a pair setting the final score.

"We made shots, played with great poise, defensively we had them off-balance, and we outrebounded them which was special," said Head Coach Mike Dunlap. "The four new starters did an unbelievable job. Mentally, on foreign soil, they just handled all of it with great aplomb.

The Lions started the game hot, forcing two turnovers on UTA's first three possessions. Batemon opened the scoring on the season with a step-back jumper as the shot clock was winding down. The lead grew to 7-2 as Joe Quintana knocked down a triple in the early goings. The first nine LMU points came from four different Lions before Petr Herman used a put-back to give himself a second field goal and the Lions an 11-5 lead at the game's first timeout.

After the lead was cut to one-possession, Batemon went coast-to-coast for the and-1 layup to bring the score up to 18-12. The lead grew to 23-16 as Cameron Allen scored his first LMU bucket, a long-range three from the top of the arc at the 10:14 mark.

Following a two and a half minute stretch with neither team scoring, Joe Quintana found Eli Scott in the post who promptly spun his way to the basket for a reverse layup to make it a five-point advantage with 7:26 to play. Quintana finished with four assists tying him with Stanley Thorne (Nov. 11, 1999 vs. Cal Baptist) and John Haywood (Nov. 22, 2002 vs. Loyola Chicago) with the most assists in a player's first game.

Later in the half, Quintana fed the ball up court off a loose ball steal, finding Allen for an open layup. Allen then followed it up with three more to push the lead to the highest of the half, 35-27, with 3:35 to play.

The Mavericks responded with a 9-0 run to take their first lead of the game, before LMU scored three consecutive baskets to close out the half on a 6-0 run and take a 41-36 lead into the locker room.

The Lions came out of the break scoring 11 of the first 14 points to extend the lead to 52-39 with 14:29 remaining.

As UTA started its comeback, Eli Scott ended an 8-0 run that cut the game to 53-49 with a midrange jump shot. After the Mavs hit a three to tie it, Scott knocked down four straight free throws to build the lead back up to four.

UTA briefly took the lead once again before Allen buried another top-of-the-key three to beat the expiring shot clock. Allen finished with 16 points, becoming one of four Lions to reach double figures.

Down the stretch, Batemon converted an and-1 breakaway to push the Lions within a point at 77-76 and 2:33 on the clock. Free throws then tied the game at 77, before Kevin Hervey hit his third three of the game and finish with 28 points.

Batemon's 23 points were one off the LMU record for most in a debut. The freshman pair of Scott and Quintana finished with 16 and 10, respectively.

"It bodes well," said Dunlap. "We have Riverside on Wednesday. We have to get our mind on that, see what our mistakes were and correct those. I'm pretty excited, simply because to come in here and play a team like we did that went to the NIT quarterfinals last year is very encouraging."

The Lions are home for two straight this week, with UC Riverside coming to Gersten Pavilion on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and McNeese State headed to the Bluff on Sunday for a 3 p.m. game.

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