LOS ANGELES – Despite trailing by as many as 24 points in the second half, the LMU men's basketball team used a series of runs to cut the game to single digits and put themselves in a position to win on Saturday night. Saint Mary's (18-4, 5-2 WCC) held on to defeat the Lions (8-13, 2-5 WCC), 73-62.
 
Eli Scott opened the game with a baseline dunk to give LMU the first bucket of the day. Saint Mary's responded with eight unanswered points to give the Gael's an 8-2 advantage.
 
The Gaels build that lead to as high as 23 points in the first half before taking a 43-21 advantage into the locker room.
 
LMU found themselves down 24 before the comeback-bid began as Parker Dortch knocked down a three less than two minutes into the half. Dortch scored eight points in the game, including a perfect 2-for-2 mark from long range.
 
A 10-4 LMU run put the Lions down 15 points with 13 and a half minutes remaining on the clock.

After back-to-back layups by the Gaels, Jordan Bell scored seven unanswered and 10 of the game's next 11 points to bring LMU within 10, 58-48, with 7:29 left in the game. Bell finished with 14 points, four rebounds, and two steals, all his points and steals coming in the second half.
 
The lone senior, Erik Johansson, then took his turn at a personal run, scoring five consecutive points to bring the game to single digits, 60-53, with 4:17 on the clock. All eight of Johansson's points came in the second half as well.
 
A 6-0 Saint Mary's run shifted the momentum back to the visitors with 2:38 to play.

Eli Scott scored seven of LMU's final nine points to finish with a team-high 18 points, to go along with his four rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
 
The only other Lion with multiple field goals was Seikou Sisoho Jawara who scored seven points off the bench.
 
The Lions elevated their shooting in the second half from a 36.4 percent (8-for-22) mark in the first half to a 53.8 percent (14-for-26) clip in the second half. LMU also hit 90 percent (9-for-10) from the free throw line after intermission.
 
The Lions will travel to Stockton on Thursday to play Pacific for the first time this season, before returning home to host Pepperdine in the second leg of the PCH Cup Saturday at 3 p.m.