LOS ANGELES – LMU men's basketball nearly completed a second half comeback against San Francisco on Saturday night. The Lions trailed by seven with less than five minutes to play and used an 8-3 run to pull within two points before the Dons scored late free throws to take the game, 72-66.
 
The first half featured a series of runs. After LMU opened the game with a free throw, USF rattled off the next seven points.

Alex Merkviladze opened a 9-0 run immediately afterwards with seven of the nine points during that stretch.
 
San Francisco responded with the next 11 points to go ahead by eight until Myron Amey, Jr. put an end to the run.
 
After the Dons took their first 10-point lead, the Lions answered with seven unanswered capped off by Jevon Porter hitting a three and a layup.
 
The run again had a response from the visitors who scored the next 10 points and 11 of the next 13 heading into the last three minutes of the half.
 
Will Johnston and Porter scored late baskets before San Francisco took a 36-28 lead into intermission.
 
The first two LMU baskets came on Johnston threes to cut the deficit to four. Aaron McBride also cut the deficit to four with a converted and-1 at 17:09. McBride scored all seven of his points in the second half.
 
Myron Amey, Jr. became the fifth Lion to surpass 1,000 career points this season as a steal and score pushed Amey to 1,001 points for his collegiate career.
 
The Lions made it a one-possession game at Jan converted an and-1 of his own and Merkviladze hit a shot to bring LMU within three, 53-50. Vide finished 7-for-8 from the free throw line, both career-highs.
 
LMU's first lead of the second half came on an 8-0 run that was bookended by a pair of jumpers from Caleb Stone-Carrawell. Vide scored the middle three points to tie his career-high with 13 points. LMU pushed ahead 58-57 with 7:38 remaining on the clock.
 
San Francisco responded with an 8-0 run to push ahead by seven with 4:55 to play.

The Lions did not give in, as the captains scored all eight points in an 8-3 push to make it a 68-66 game with 1:09 left in regulation. Johnston scored six of those points and Merkviladze scored a wide-open layup to each hit 14 points for the game.
 
The Merkviladze layup was the final field goal as the only remaining points came from the free throw line for USF.
 
LMU outshot San Francisco 52.2 percent (24-for-46) to 38.9 percent (21-for-54) but were hampered by 18 turnovers. The Dons converted 21 points off turnovers and added another 23 from the free throw line. Both LMU's 52.2 percent from the field and 86.7 percent (13-for-15) from the free throw line were season highs against Division I competition this season.
 
The Lions held USF to 27 rebounds, which is the fewest for an opponent in West Coast Conference games this season. LMU outrebounded their opponent by three.
 
LMU will play three games next week, beginning with a trip to Malibu to make up the postponed game against Pepperdine in the PCH Cup. The Lions will then host Pacific on Thursday night before traveling to Portland for a Saturday night contest.
 
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