LOS ANGELES – For the first time since the 1957-58 season, Loyola Marymount men's basketball opened the season with three-straight double-digit victories. The Lions (3-0) knocked off Cal State Northridge (1-1) at home, 79-64.
 
"Our defense was our calling card," said Head Coach Mike Dunlap. "The game starts in the second half and that's where we kicked it into gear."
 
The Lions kicked off the game with a 7-0 run and extended the early lead to 13-2 with Zafir Williams scoring seven early points. Williams buried two triples in the game and his 5-for-7 field goals led him to 13 points.
 
LMU hit the bonus with over 11 minutes remaining in the first half, and benefitted from free throws the rest of the way.
 
CSUN cut it to as close as two points twice in the opening half, 17-15 and 24-22, but the Lions never surrendered the lead the rest of the way.
 
The lead grew back to double-digits as LMU scored the first eight points of the second half to make it a 44-31 game.
 
A 7-0 run pushed it to a 57-42 lead with 11:17 on the clock forcing a CSUN timeout. The lead grew to as high as 19 in the second half.
 
Joe Quintana and Donald Gipson hit consecutive threes at the 10:06 then 9:19 marks to push the lead to 17 points. LMU's seven made threes in the game are a season-high.
 
Quintana finished his day with a new career-high five steals to add to his 10 points. As a team, the Lions have hit double-figure steals in all three games, finishing with 11 tonight.
 
For the first time this season LMU recorded a double-double, with two players hitting the plateau. Mattias Markusson corralled his 10^threbound of the game to hit a points/rebounds double-double. The center finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

James Batemon hit his points/assists double-double with another strong second half. After intermission the senior scored 14 of his game-high 21 points and added seven of his game-high 10 assists. Batemon went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the second half.
 
The result is Coach Dunlap's 50^thNCAA win since leading his alma mater as head coach.
 
The Lions fly out early Wednesday morning for the Jamaica Classic with games scheduled for Nov. 16 and 18, beginning with Georgetown on Friday.