SAN FRANCISCO – The University of San Francisco hit 59.4 percent of their shots on Thursday night to defeat LMU, 90-74, at War Memorial Gym.
 
The Lions fell behind 6-0 before Lars Thiemann scored his first of eight points to put the Lions on the board.
 
LMU pulled within three points with 12:24 on the first half clock after back-to-back baskets from Justin Wright and Dominick Harris. The Dons responded with the next eight points before Will Johnston put an end to the run with five-straight points of his own.
 
Lars Thiemann grabbed his 500^th career rebound just before the half on an offensive rebound putback dunk. The Lions trailed 46-34 after San Francisco hit a three just as the buzzer sounded.
 
An early 7-0 run in the second half pulled the Lions within seven less than three minutes into the new period.
 
Alex Merkviladze hit a three a minute and a half later to bring the score back to within seven, 51-44. Merkviladze scored nine of his 12 points in the second half and led the team with nine rebounds.
 
After USF went back up double-digits, a Michael Graham layup off an offensive rebound made it a 58-50 game with 12:10 remaining. San Francisco answered with a 16-5 run over the next 4:40 before Harris knocked down one of his four threes in the game. Harris led the Lions with 22 points.
 
Despite falling behind by 19 points, the Lions pulled back within single digits as Johnston hit a three with 2:20 on the clock. Johnston started the run with a four-point play and finished with 19 points and four made threes. The Dons closed the game with the final seven points.
 
The Lions return to Southern California for Saturday night's game in Malibu against Pepperdine.
 
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