SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The LMU men's basketball team was unable to close the gap in shooting percentage as the Santa Clara built up a second half lead and took the game at home, 79-60.
 
Joe Quintana opened the game by getting fouled on a three-point attempt and knocking down all three from the line. Quintana would share game-high points with 14 in the game.
 
After Santa Clara took the lead for their first time, Keli Leaupepe drove for a layup and put the Lions back on top, 5-4. Leaupepe joined Quintana with 14 points in the game.
 
After the Broncos hit a three, the Lions would benefit from baskets from Eli Scott and Cam Shelton to go up two, 9-7, five minutes into the game. Santa Clara responded with a 12-3 run, with only a Quintana three breaking it up. Scott would finish the game with 13 points and Shelton added nine of his own.
 
Leaupepe started a 9-0 run by scoring the first five points on the streak. The run gave LMU a 21-19 advantage with 8:34 on the clock. Another home team 11-2 run followed and gave the Broncos a 30-23.
 
The Lions would chip away at it as Scott hit a runner as time expired to bring it to a four-point game at intermission, 35-31.
 
LMU's two leading scorers in the game, Leaupepe and Quintana helped cut the deficit to one, 37-36, coming out of the locker room before Santa Clara scored the next seven unanswered.
 
One more LMU response cut the game to one-possession as Jalin Anderson capped a 6-0 run with a corner three. Anderson scored seven points in his first start of the season.
 
Santa Clara would build their lead up to as high as 23 points with a series of runs before LMU closed the game on a 6-2 run. Scott putback his own layup as LMU's final field goal of the game for his team-high eighth rebound.
 
The game featured nine lead changes and four ties.
 
The Broncos had five players in double-figures despite nobody on the home team scoring more than 13 in the game.