LOS ANGELES – Stan Johnson won his 50^th game as the head LMU men's basketball on Monday night as the Lions defeated Detroit Mercy. The Lions turned a nine-point halftime lead into a 20-point win, 76-56, at Gersten Pavilion.
 
Alex Merkviladze's first three put the Lions ahead 5-0 and his second three pushed the LMU up eight. Dominick Harris gave LMU their first 10-point lead on the next position with a driving layup.
 
A 6-0 run capped by a pump fake into a jumper by Aaron McBride pushed the Lions ahead 30-17 at the 7:02 mark. 
 
Justin Wright pushed the lead to 14 with a driving layup with 4:45 remaining in the half to surpass over 1,000 career points for his collegiate career between his time at North Carolina Central and LMU. Wright led the Lions with 19 points and six assists.
 
After Detroit Mercy went on an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to six points, Noah Taitz knocked down his first shot as a Lion with a corner three.
 
The Lions led by nine at the half, 39-30, but quickly extended the lead to fifteen points as Harris knocked double back-to-back threes to open the second half. Harris scored 19 points and grabbed five rebounds.
 
Merkviladze and Leaupepe hit consecutive layups to build the lead up to 16 points before the Titans scored the next six points to cut it to 10 at the midway point of the second half. Wright put an end to the run with an and-1 at the rim.
 
Michael Graham finished with 11 rebounds with six coming on the offensive glass. Graham scored back-to-back buckets down the stretch and finished with six points. The Lions outrebounded Detroit Mercy by 20 with Merkviladze grabbing nine and Rick Issanza adding seven.
 
LMU finished the game with eight of the final 10 points to turn it to a 20-point game.
 
The Lions outscored Detroit Mercy, 34-14, in the paint and by seven in second-chance points.
 
LMU's defense held the Titans to 28.3 percent (17-for-60) shooting and 5-for-19 (26.3 percent) from three.
 
The Lions will remain at home this week with 16^th-ranked Colorado State coming to Gersten Pavilion for a 7:00 PM showdown on Friday evening.
 
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