LOS ANGELES – LMU men's basketball committed a season-low six turnovers but could not get past Tarleton State, 79-66, in the final non-conference game of the year.
 
Keli Leaupepe started the game on a personal 5-0 run after completing a three-point play for his second layup in the opening 1:16 of game action.

After Tarleton State got on the board, Dominick Harris knocked down a pair of three-pointers to push the lead to 11-2 less than three minutes into the game. 
 
The Lions would lead by nine on two more occasions, following basketball by Will Johnston and Justin Wright. The Texans did have a run in them, going on a 20-4 run over the next 7:16 to turn their deficit into a 32-25 lead with the final three and a half minutes remaining in the half.
 
LMU responded with a 6-0 run to bring it back to a one-point game with less than two minutes to play before halftime. The Lions pounded the glass for 12 first-half offensive rebounds but trailed 34-31 going into the locker room.
 
After a pair of Tarleton State free throws, Lars Thiemann dunked the ball for LMU's first points of the second half and Johnston followed with a layup to cut the deficit to one.
 
The Lions would cut it to a two-point game three more times in the half, once on a Harris three-pointer at 17:17, again with another Leaupepe and-1 less than a minute later, and finally on a Wright jumper with 15:55 to play. Those three combined for 49 of LMU's 66 points as Wright led the way with 18 points, Leaupepe scored a season-high 16 points, and 15 from Harris behind his three made threes.
 
One final run cut the game to one possession with just over four minutes to play before Tarleton State responded with the next 10 to pull away. Lars Thiemann converted an and-1 at the rim and Wright hit a three that cut the deficit down from six to three before the Texans closed the game with 12 of the final 14 points.
 
With the non-conference portion of the schedule completed, LMU will now shift focus to conference play. West Coast Conference games begin on Jan. 4 with LMU hosting Santa Clara at home. The Lions are home for the first three games to open WCC play. The Lions and Broncos will tip off at 8:00 PM on Thursday following the women's basketball game at 4:00 PM on the front end of the double-header.
 
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