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A Triple Heartbreaker Adds to Missoula Horrors
Nov. 15, 2009
Box Score
MISSOULA, Mont. - The LMU men's basketball team, complete with just three upperclassmen, just would not go away in a place that has been a house of horrors for them in program history. The Lions, who looked dead in the water with 14 seconds to play, stormed back and had three shots at the buzzer to upend host Montana in the final day of the 2009 Grizzly Classic Sunday. However, the Lions added another chapter to their horrors in Missoula, as all three shots rolled off the rim and LMU suffered a 64-63 heartbreaker that resembled a heavyweight prize fight with 12 lead changes and nine ties. The Lions fall to 0-4 all-time at Montana. "Gosh darn it, those kids just did not quit," said Head Coach Max Good. "We showed great will to fight our way back, and these kids deserve a win so much, I was hoping the basketball gods would smile on us tonight. They didn't. But I am proud for how hard we played in a really hard place to play against a very good Montana team." The Lions fall to 1-2 on their trip to Montana, dropping their two games by a total of four points. Sophomore Drew Viney set a career-high with 22 points and seven rebounds. Junior Larry Davis scored 19 points with 11 rebounds for a double-double. Vernon Teel scored 10 points with seven rebounds and seven assists. Both Davis and Teel were named to the all-tournament team. "Drew really played outstanding, and he and Vernon made such a great decision down the stretch to give us a chance," said Good. "Vernon just really made strides this weekend and played very smart. He had a little more turnovers than previous nights, but he played aggressive and gave us a chance." That decision came with the Lions down four, 64-60, after Anthony Johnson hit another pair of free throws with 14 seconds to play.
Teel took the inbound and raced up the court with Viney as the trailer. Teel, who had been creating all night with his drives down the lane, dished back to Viney. He jumped stopped and drilled a three-pointer with nine seconds to play to make it a 64-63 game. LMU, out of timeouts, doubled Johnson, who is Montana's best free throw shooter. Teel attacked the gap and forced Johnson to fumble an inbounds pass and knock it out of bounds, giving the Lions a chance to steal a win. Teel drove the lane with four seconds to play and his driving lay-up went to the left where freshman Edgar Garibay's tip was off the mark. Davis picked up the offensive board and his lay-in rolled off front rim as the buzzer sounded. Garibay had six points, seven rebounds and three blocks. The Lions outrebounded Montana 39-29 and had 15 offensive rebounds, holding Montana to just 6-for-18 three-pointers after averaging 11 in their first two games. The game was a back-and-forth affair the entire night with both teams getting a lead as large as six, but no more. Montana took a 28-27 lead at the break. It wouldn't last long as Viney's three-pointer to open the second half gave the Lions the lead. Montana would slowly grow the lead back to six, 46-40, with 13:06 to play. Less than four minutes later, Viney hit yet another three-pointer to tie it once again, 49-49. Montana would take a lead and see LMU tie it three more times over the next seven minutes. Teel tied it for the last time with a lay-in on an assist by Davis with 2:34 to play. Over the next two minutes, Montana would outscore LMU 6-1 to build a five-point cushion with 39 seconds left, 61-56. Garibay would take a pass from Teel with 33 seconds left and his dunk would make it 61-58. Will Cherry went one-for-two from the charity stripe to make it 62-58 with 31 to play. LMU would turn the ball over on the next possession but Viney would take it right back on the inbound and lay it in to cut the lead to 62-60. The Lions would foul Johnson with 14 seconds left to set up the heartbreaking conclusion. The Lions head back to Los Angeles for their home opener on Nov. 18 when they host UC Irvine at 8:05 p.m. The game can be seen on Fox Sports Net Prime Ticket and heard on KXLU 88.9 FM. |
