Dec. 2, 2001

Final Stats

Los Angeles, Calif. (December 2) -- Playing its most complete game of the season, the Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team came to College Station, Texas, and the home of the Big 12's Texas A&M and ended the Aggies hopes for the their best start in 20 years with an impressive 80-78 win on Sunday afternoon.

It was back-and-forth the entire way as the Lions' Greg Lakey hit a lay-up on a lob pass from Marcus Smith with 57 seconds remaining to give the Lions a 78-77 lead. Eurskine Robinson would then hit an eight-footer with five seconds remaining to seal the win. The Lions improve to 3-3 on the season and the Aggies fall to 4-1.

"I am really proud of the way our kids responded and played this afternoon," said Head Coach Steve Aggers. "To date this was our best effort of the season. Anywhere in the country you shoot over 60 percent you have a great chance to win." The Lions finished the game shooting 62 percent (33-for-53).

Senior Robert Davis, who had only three points at half, was hot in the second and finished the game with 14 points. He gave the Lions a 74-71 lead with a pair of free throws with 3:39 remaining in the game. The Lions finished seven-for-seven for the charity stripe.

The Lions would take a 76-75 on Lakey's five-footer with 1:55 remaining. The senior, who struggled in the first half going one-for-four from the field, would finish with 12 points.

The Aggies wouldn't go away, taking a 77-76 lead when Nick Anderson hit two of his game-high 18 at the 1:14. Just under 20 seconds later the Lakey would put the Lions up for good. However, the Aggies had a chance to tie the game when Smith fouled the Aggies All-American candidate, Bernard King, on a three-point attempt. The Aggies leading scorer would only hit one of his three attempts and the Lions' Davis grabbed the rebound to seal the win.

"Marcus definatly fouled King, who is a great player," said Aggers. "I was thankful he missed a couple of his foul shots. This was a great confidence boost for our team."

Playing in their best half of the season, the Lions opened with a 45-44 halftime lead thanks to 60 percent shooting from the field (17-for-28). They were even hotter from long distance, going 6-for-8 (75 percent) as six different players hit a three. They would finish the game going 7-for-11 (64 percent) from long distance. Leading the way was sophomore Keith Kincade, who had 13 points in the first half and a team-high 15 for the game. Both Smith and freshman Charles Brown would had seven of their nine points in the opening half.

It was a team effort for the Lions as 10 of the 11 in uniform scored in the game. In addition they created 18 Aggie turnovers and had a season high 11 steals. In addition, they had a season high 24 assists. Both Brown and Robinson had five.

The Lions head home to take on UC Santa Barbara on Wed., Dec. 5 at Gersten Pavilion starting at 7:05 p.m.

-GO LIONS-