MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. – LMU (1-1) held a nine-point lead halfway through the first half, before foul trouble and turnovers allowed Minnesota (2-0) to climb back into it and pull ahead, 88-73, Saturday night at Williams Arena.
 
The Lions, led by five scorers in double-figures for the second consecutive game, used a quick 8-0 run over a course of 2:17 to turn a one-point game to a 19-10 lead, with 11:31 on the first half clock.
 
The Gophers responded with the next seven unanswered points of their own, and eventually retook the lead with a separate 7-0 run to push ahead 27-24 with 5:19 remaining until half time. Once the Lions erased the deficit, and a Dameane Douglas pushed LMU ahead 34-32, a third 7-0 run of the half gave Minnesota a lead that would stick for the remainder of the game.
 
The Lions went into the locker room trailing by four points, but found themselves down double-digits and by as many as 22 points in the second half.
 
Despite the deficit, LMU continued to play ball, and benefited from 11 of Joe Quintana's career-high tying 19 points during that stretch to cut the score down to 83-73 with just over two minutes to play.
 
Eli Scott also turned it on in the second half, scoring 12 of his 14 points. Both Douglas and Scott finished a rebound away from double-doubles.
 
Douglas and Keli Leaupepe were the first half pieces for the Lions as Douglas scored nine of his 10 points and Leauepe added seven of his dozen before intermission.
 
Leaupepe was one of a handful of Lions forced to play in foul trouble for the majority of the game, as LMU committed 27 fouls compared to 17 for the Gophers.
 
Minnesota did shoot 53 percent (8-for-15) from deep and benefitted from 23 points off turnovers.
 
LMU won the battle for points in the paint and bench points by a basket each.
 
The two teams are scheduled to face one another again on Monday night following a Sunday break. The game will once again air on BTN at 7:00 PST (5:00 PT).