SAN DIEGO, Calif. – LMU men's basketball turned an 18-point deficit into a two-point finish but was unable to pull ahead of San Diego in the second half on Wednesday night. The Lions scored 18 points in the final 1:47 of the game to make it a 79-77 final.
 
Dominick Harris a three to open the game and Alex Merkviladze followed with one of his own on LMU's next possession to take a 6-2 lead in the first minute of play. 
 
San Diego followed with the next 13 unanswered points before Merkviladze drove to the rim for a layup to stop the run. Merkviladze finished with 12 points and grabbed his 500^th career rebound as part of his eight boards on the night.
 
Will Johnston hit a three at the 12:50 mark to cut it to a two-possession game before the Toreros built up an 18-point first-half lead.
 
Justin Wright hit back-to-back shots in the final two minutes as part of a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to a dozen before San Diego took a 42-29 lead into intermission.
 
Wright cut the deficit to seven points at the 14:23, 13:19, and 12:38 marks of the second half, but the Toreros had a response each time before building their lead back up to 12.
 
Lars Thiemann bookended a 6-0 run with a layup and dunk that brought the Lions back within five points with 6:37 remaining in the game, but a 9-2 response by San Diego brought their lead back up to 12 with 1:47 to play. Thiemann scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds, with five coming on the offensive glass.
 
LMU did not back down over the last two minutes, going on an 8-0 run in just 50 seconds to bring the score to 71-67 with 50 ticks on the clock. Justice Hill and Johnston went back-to-back from three and Hill followed with a pair of free throws to close the run.
 
Wright scored his 18^th point of the game with a layup at 18 seconds. After USD knocked down a pair of free throws, Johnston hit his third three of the half to make it a one-possession game with six seconds left.
 
Again the Toreros knocked down their free throws as LMU continued to foul and stop the clock to make it a five point game with four seconds remaining.
 
Hill hit a three at the buzzer to take team-high honors with 19 points and give the game its final of two points. Hill also led the Lions with five assists.
 
After shooting 36.7 percent (11-for-30) in the first half, the Lions shot 58.6 percent (17-for-29) over the final two minutes. San Diego shot 52.9 percent for the game.
 
The Lions will return to Los Angeles to host Pepperdine on Saturday night in the second leg of the PCH Cup. LMU defeated the Waves in Malibu earlier this season.
 
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