SAN DIEGO, Calif. – LMU men's basketball dropped a tight one on Saturday, falling to San Diego, 70-65.
 
Dameane Douglas opened the scoring with a three and gave the Lions a 7-6 lead with a jumper less than five minutes into the game. Douglas finished with 14 points in the game and made both of his three-point attempts.
 
A three by Joe Quintana tied the game at 17-all at the 9:49 mark of the first. After San Diego took a lead back, Keli Leaupepe scored on a nifty drop pass from Quintana to even the score at 19-19.
 
The Toreros put together an 11-0 run to take their largest lead of the game, 34-21, with 3:05 to play until halftime.
 
The Lions responded with the final eight points of the half, including back-to-back layups by Leaupepe to cut the deficit to 34-29 at intermission. Leaupepe shot 5-for-7 from the floor to reach 10 points in the game.
 
The Toreros built up double-digit leads five different times in the second half, with the latest coming with 5:42 to play.
 
LMU responded with the next five points, all from Scott, but could not get it any closer than a five-point game. The fifth-year senior scored 23 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, going 9-for-13 from the field after coming back from intermission. Scott also led the Lions with nine rebounds.
 
The Lions took care of the ball against the Toreros, only committing seven total turnovers, and benefited from 13 points off turnovers compared to USD's three.
 
LMU will host Portland on Monday afternoon in another quick turnaround. The 4:00 PM rescheduled game will bring the Lions back home to play at Gersten Pavilion for the first time in 37 days.