MALIBU, Calif. – LMU men's basketball has locked up fourth place in the WCC and has hit the nine-win plateau in conference play for just the second time since 1990-1991 with a 75-67 win Saturday night over Pepperdine.
 
Pepperdine scored the opening basket, but it was LMU who found the rhythm early. After being shutout for the first two and a half minutes of play, the Lions scored 14 unanswered points to take a 14-2 lead with 13:32 to play. Kwane Marble II started the run with a top of the arc three. Keli Leaupepe followed with back-to-back baskets. Cam Shelton hit a three as well, and Alex Merkviladze and Rick Issanza put a punctuation on the run with a swooping layup and dunk, respectively. 
 
The Waves responded with 12 of the next 14 points to bring it back to a one-possession game. Jalin Anderson hit a three just past the seven-minute mark to push the Lions back up five. Pepperdine took a 28-25 lead into the locker room led by 11 first half points by Jan Zidek.
 
Anderson knocked down a triple to open the second half as the Lions scored the first six points after intermission to retake the lead. Pepperdine responded with the next five to hold the lead for what would be there final time. Anderson scored 12 points with nine coming in the second half.
 
Leaupepe then hit back-to-back threes that started an 8-0 run and gave the lead back to the Lions for good. Leaupepe hit three threes in the second half and finished with 13 points
 
LMU increased the lead to 13 points as Shelton hit back-to-back threes of his own. The second half comeback, which included LMU outscoring the Waves 50-39, was largely led by the play of Shelton. The senior guard scored 25 of his game-high 32 points in the second half, his fourth 30-plus point game of the month. The largest lead of the game was 15 on five-unanswered points by Shelton.
 
Marble closed the game with the last three points for LMU from the free throw line to finish at nine points.
 
The Lions improved from 33.3 percent shooting to 53.6 percent in the second half.
 
The WCC Tournament will begin in the quarterfinals for the Lions after securing fourth. LMU has a double-bye in the 10-team field. The Lions can be seen on ESPN in the 7:00 PM on March 4.
 
Donate Today:
Fans interested in making a contribution to the Lions Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift will help provide a transformational student-athlete experience athletically, academically, and culturally for every LMU student-athlete. We appreciate your continued support of LMU Athletics. 
 
Follow Along With The Action:
For complete coverage of Loyola Marymount University athletics, visit LMULions.com. We encourage you to follow along with all the action on social media as well. Follow along by following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook, and following us on Instagram.