SPOKANE, Wash. – The 2020-21 regular season has concluded on Saturday night as LMU (12-8, 7-5 WCC) battled with the nation's top team on Saturday night. The Lions held the lead for over 11 and a half minutes in the game, but #1-ranked Gonzaga pulled away to earn a 86-59 win.
 
LMU jumped ahead early, scoring the first four points and taking an early 6-1 lead. Eli Scott and Mattias Markusson each scored in those first two minutes, starting a trend for their nights.
 
After Gonzaga tied the score twice in the first half, Joe Quintana and Ivan Alipiev sparked a 5-0 run to give LMU a 15-10 lead with 11:35 on the clock. Alipiev joined the senior pair with double-figure scoring going 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from three for 11 points.
 
The Zags took their first lead at the 7:49 mark of the first half, before the Lions responded with a go-ahead triple by Keli Leaupepe to make it 23-21 with 6:49 to play before halftime. Leaupepe hit two of his three three-point attempts before fouling out in the second half.
 
Gonzaga closed out the half with a run to go ahead by double-figures. Markusson scored with a jump shot in the final seconds before the half to give him his 14^th point of the game. The Swede finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the year.
 
LMU never led after intermission, but an offensive rebound to a second-chance putback layup by Eli Scott kept it at single-digits with just over four minutes into the second half. Scott scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in the second half alone to finish with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Scott's sixth double-double of the season moves him into a tie for sixth all-time in program history with 20.
 
This is the first time in conference play this year that two players had double-doubles in the same game for the Lions. The last time it happened was earlier this season with Scott and Leaupepe in the win over UC Santa Barbara. 
 
The offensive glass continued to help the Lions as LMU grabbed 10 offensive boards and allowed only two, which led to a 15-2 advantage in second chance points. Six of Scott's boards were on the offensive end of the court.
 
Gonzaga's 58.3 percent field goal percentage (28-for-48) is the highest for an opponent against LMU this season. The Zags also went to the line 32 times, more than any opponent this year as well.

Despite the loss, LMU finished with the third-best record in the West Coast Conference this season. The conference will unveil the final seedings for the 2021 WCC Championships on Sunday morning with the tournament set to run from Mar. 4-9 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.