HENDERSON, Nev. – LMU men's basketball withstood 12 tie scores and 11 lead changes to defeat UNLV at the Jack Jones Classic. The Lions led by three at halftime and finished the game with the same margin, 78-75.
 
UNLV scored the first two points, before the Lions responded with three consecutive buckets in the paint as Lars Thiemann, Alex Merkviladze, and Justice Hill combined to give the Lions their first lead just two and a half minutes into the action.
 
The Runnin' Rebels took the lead back and held it until Merkviladze tied the game with a three and Dominick Harris knocked in a pair of free throws to flip the Lions back on top.
 
UNLV would hold two more five-point advantages in the opening half, but a 10-0 run by the Lions that spanned 3:24 gave the Lions a 32-27 lead with 2:51 remaining in the half. Justin Wright scored the first three and last two points of that run.
 
Thiemann scored on LMU's final possession to give LMU a 38-35 advantage at intermission. Thiemann finished with 13 points and five rebounds.
 
An 11-3 run by UNLV to open the second half put the Rebels up five points less than four minutes into the second period.
 
The Lions responded with the next eight unanswered points capped by back-to-back threes from Will Johnston and Harris.
 
The lead would continue to change sides until Harris converted an and-1 with 9:36 remaining in the half to give the Lions the lead for the remainder of the game.
 
LMU's largest lead was six as Harris hit one of his five threes on the day. Harris finished with 29 points on 10-for-19 shooting and 5-for-11 from long range.
 
Hill dished out a team-high seven assists.
 
UNLV scored two baskets at the rim with less than 30 seconds to play, making it a one-point game with 12 on the clock. The Rebels had a chance to take a lead, but LMU earned the defensive stop on the far side of the court. The Lions secured the win as Alex Merkviladze scored his 14^th and 15^th points of the night at the free throw line with 1.0 on the clock. Merkviladze led the Lions with nine rebounds.
 
The Lions grabbed eight offensive rebounds which led to 23-to-7 advantage in second chance points. LMU's bench outscored the UNLV reserves 39-to-11.
 
LMU will play next Saturday at the Jerry Colangelo Classic in Phoenix against UC Santa Barbara.
 
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