LOS ANGELES – The LMU students stormed the court on Thursday night after the LMU men's basketball team handed the 15^th-ranked team their first conference loss, 78-74, in overtime after Cam Shelton scored all of his LMU career-high 31 points in the second half and overtime.
 
Saint Mary's opened the game with the first 16 points. Jalin Anderson put an end to the run by getting fouled on a three-point shot attempt. After knocking down the first two, LMU kept the ball alive resulting in Anderson knocking down a triple from the floor in the extra possession.
 
That sparked the start of the 23-6 that gave the lead back to the Lions. Anderson accounted for nine of LMU's first 11 points and Alex Merkviladze tied the game at 20-20 with three consecutive three pointers.
 
After Saint Mary's scored on the other end, Keli Leaupepe gave the Lions a first half lead with a shot clock beating three with 4:39 to play in the half. The Gaels closed the half with eight unanswered points to take a 30-23 lead at intermission.
 
All six of LMU's first half field goals came from beyond the arc. The Lions shot 6-for-11 from deep, but only 6-for-21 from the field.
 
Justin Ahrens opened the half with a three. Shelton added a three as well with 16:28 to play. LMU's first eight field goals were from three.
 
The Lions took their first lead of the second half with 10:10 on the clock as Ahrens drained a three and Merkviladze drove the lane for a go-ahead layup to push LMU ahead, 43-42. After a pair of free throws on the other end of the court, Shelton scored a layup for the second and final go-ahead shot of the second half. The Gaels responded with a 7-0 run and led by as many as seven even into the final two minutes of regulation.
 
Shelton put the team on his back down the stretch, including scoring LMU's last 11 points to bring the Lions within two with 20 seconds to play after converting an and-1. The Gaels knocked down both free throws on the other end of the court to push ahead 62-58 with 20 seconds on the clock.

Ahrens shot a quick three to make it a one-point game with 14 to play. Saint Mary's split free throws on the other end of the court and Shelton made yet another play to tie the game with a driving layup with 2 seconds left. The Gaels missed the halfcourt heave and the game reset tied at 63-all.

Overtime began with each team trading points. SMC went ahead by two points four different times to start the extra session, and with each basket, the Lions responded. Shelton scored the first six points of overtime, and Merkviladze tied the game at 71-71 with 1:35 to play. Merkviladze finished second on the team with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting.
 
After earning a defensive stop, it was the senior captain who made yet another play. Shelton converted a three-point play with less than a minute to play to give LMU their largest lead of the game to that point.

After the Gaels cut it back to one, again it was Shelton who provided an answer with another driving layup. Shelton then forced a steal on the other end, but with the ball loose on the ground called a timeout that LMU did not possess. Saint Mary's hit only one of the two technical free throws to keep it at a two-point game. On the inbound play, Keli Leaupepe drew a foul, knocked down both with a second remaining to secure victory.
 
The Lions held Saint Mary's to 42 percent (27-for-65) from the field and 32 percent (7-for-22) from three in the win, including limiting SMC to just 1-for-10 from three in the second half.
 
LMU's bench scored 15 points, compared to none from the visiting bench. Kwane Marble II added four points and Michael Graham dunked the ball to go along with the nine from Anderson
 
The game featured seven ties and seven lead changes, despite LMU only holding a lead for two minutes and 25 seconds of play.
 
The Lions will have a quick turnaround and fly up to face Santa Clara for the only time this season on Saturday night.

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