SANTA CLARA, Calif. – It was a tale of two halves Saturday night in Santa Clara. The Lions (15-6, 3-4 WCC) erased a 14-point first half deficit to win, 69-61.
 
"It was the defense," said Head Coach Mike Dunlap. "Defense was the beginning, and the end of the story was that we didn't turn the ball over. We had 11 turnovers in the game. We were able to limit their three when the game was on the line."
 
It was the 15-0 run as part of a larger 24-4 run in the second-half lead that grew to 11 with 5:09 to play. While the offense was impressive, shooting over 59 percent (13-for-22) in the second half as compared to 36 percent (9-for-25) from the field in the first half, it was LMU's defense that sparked the run.
 
The Lions limited Santa Clara to under 27 percent (7-for-26) shooting after intermission and 23 total points in the second half.
 
Dameane Douglas put together an all-around performance, finishing with 16 points (one shy of his career high), 10 rebounds (matching his career high), six assists (setting his career high), and four steals (setting his career high), all well shooting 6-for-8 from the field.
 
The Broncos jumped out to an early lead, 8-0, and extended that start to 17-5, forcing the Lions to play from behind all half. At halftime, the Lions only trailed 38-29, despite Santa Clara shooting 7-for-12 from long distance in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Douglas kept the Lions in it early, scoring six of the first eight LMU points. Mattias Markusson scored LMU's first basket to break that initial Santa Clara run and finished with 13 points and six rebounds.
 
James Batemon had 10 points in each half to finish with a game-high 20, but shot an efficient 3-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from both the line and three in the second half.
 
All nine of Eli Scott's points came after the break, as well as a big three from Erik Johansson off the bench. Jeffery McClendon was the final Lion to score, draining a three in each half to finish with eight points and three assists.
 
"Dameane Douglas was in a class by himself this game," said Dunlap. "Batemon, Mattias, everybody contributed. And when Erik came in, he hit a big three that really helped push it too."
 
The Lions are set to return to Hank's House on Thursday for a home matchup with Pacific to close out the month. The men's game will be the second leg of a double-header with the women leading off at 5 p.m.