PHOENIX – In the final neutral-site game until March's West Coast Conference Championships, LMU men's basketball dropped Saturday afternoon's game to UC Santa Barbara, 68-59.
 
LMU men's basketball played their final neutral-site game of the season, until March's West Coast Conference Championships, Saturday afternoon at the Jerry Colangelo Classic. The Lion
 
After missing LMU's win over UNLV, Keli Leaupepe returned to the starting lineup and knocked down a three on his first shot of the game. Alex Merkviladze scored two early layups as LMU opened the game with a 9-5 lead over the first three and a half minutes of play.
 
After UCSB jumped ahead for the first time, Will Johnston knocked down a corner three to give LMU a 12-10 lead with 14:30 showing on the clock. Justin Wright tied the game at 18-all with a three of his own at the 10:51 mark.
 
The Gauchos used a 14-4 run to take a double-digit lead with less than five to play until halftime. Wright and Merkviladze finished at the rim with back-to-back layups to cut into the deficit and trailed 35-28 going into halftime intermission.
 
Despite Leaupepe scoring the first basket of the second half, UCSB built up an 11-point lead with an 8-2 run that followed.

The Lions responded with a 9-0 run of their own. Merkviladze opened the run with a three-pointer for three of his team-high 18 points. Michael Graham dunked the ball to start the next six points in the paint. Dominick Harris and Leaupepe followed with layups of their own to pull within two, 43-41, with 12:44 remaining.

Ajay Mitchell responded with the next seven unanswered points for the Gauchos as part of his game-high 25 points.
 
LMU brought it back within five on two different occasions down the stretch but could overcome the deficit. Dominick Harris hit a three with 7:23 remaining to cut it to five and Merkviladze hit a layup two minutes later Harris added a layup in the final seconds for to bring his scoring total to double-digits.
 
Hill led the team in assists for the seventh time this season.
 
The Lions committed a season-low eight turnovers, which UCSB matched.
 
LMU has three final non-conference games before the new year, starting with two home games next week. The Lions host Detroit Mercy on Monday night and then welcome nationally ranked Colorado State to Gersten Pavilion on Friday night in the annual Teddy Bear Toss Holiday Game. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM.
 
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