MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica – Loyola Marymount men's basketball moves to 5-0 on the season with a 65-56 win over Ohio University on Sunday night in Jamaica. With the victory, LMU earned the Jamaica Classic Montego Bay Division Title.

"We've been showing our versatility all year long," said Head Coach Mike Dunlap. "McClendon was pivotal, in terms of what he did not only on the offensive end making all of his free throws, but he took a couple of key charges. Then Mattias hit some big shots inside with the hook, which is nice to see. Then, even though he didn't score a lot Dameane did some good stuff defensively. I think we are a better team coming off this trip then when we came here because we found a way to win."
 
Zafir Williams opened the scoring with a triple on LMU's first shot attempt of the game. After an Ohio second-chance layup, Dameane Douglas got to the basket in back-to-back possessions for a layup and baseline dunk as part of a 9-2 start.
 
The first half lead grew to as high as seven on two additional points of the first half. James Batemon made it a 21-14 game with a triple with 9:44 to play and Mattias Markusson's jumper pushed it to 25-18 with 4:28 remaining on the first half clock.
 
The Lions held the lead through the entire first half, despite the Bobcats cutting it to a possession at the break, 27-24.
 
The Lions never trailed in the game, but Ohio did tie the score for the first time at 32-all with a pair of free throws. Jeffery McClendon responded by knocked down his second three of the second half at the 14:26 mark to make it a 35-32 game. McClendon finished 3-for-3 from three with a total of 15 points.
 
Markusson then put a pair of post moves together as a part of his 12 points to push the lead up to five again, 39-34, heading into the under-12 minute timeout.
 
On a personal 8-0 run, Cameron Allen pushed the lead from five to eight heading into the final eight minutes of play. Allen knocked down a three, then followed with back to back trips to the paint with the last one going for an and-one. The Lions pushed the lead to 49-36 with the run and Allen closed the game with 10 points.
 
The LMU lead grew to as high as 14 points with 2:37 remaining, but Ohio stayed in it and cut it to 61-56 with 18 seconds remaining. Batemon closed out the game with a steal and a layup, then a pair of free throws to secure LMU's first 5-0 start since the 2003-04 season.
 
Four Lions finished in double digits, with Batemon leading the team with 16 points. Dameane Douglas grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to follow his previous career-best of eight he set in Friday night's win over Georgetown.
 
As a team, the Lions shot 47.7 percent (21-for-44) from the field, their second-best mark of the season.

LMU heads back to The Buff for a three-game homestand. The Lions host fellow Jamaica Classic competitors Central Connecticut State on Nov. 21 then Florida A&M on Nov. 24.