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Dec. 6, 2008

Box Score

Los Angeles, CA -- Loyola Marymount continued its stifling defense and held the Mountain West Conference's highest scoring team, Wyoming, more than 20 points under its season average, but came up another home court heartbreaker as the Lions fell 62-55 to the Cowboys on Saturday night at Gersten Pavilion.

"This was really heartbreaking," said Acting Head Coach Max Good. "I love these kids so much and they are giving us everything we ask of them. We just have no margin of error and we can't have any mistakes against a team like Wyoming who is capable of 20 or more wins this season. It was a great effort, I would like to see them get rewarded."

Three players scored in double figures for the Lions. Senior Marko Deric led the way with a steady effort, scoring eight points in each half, to match a career-high with 16 on the game. Two freshmen, LaRon Armstead and Kevin Young joined Deric, scoring 15 and 10 points, respectively. Young also had 13 rebounds for a double-double. The 13 boards, six of which were offensive, is ranked second among freshman in LMU history.

"We have no depth but our kids really responded," said Good. "LaRon started slow, air-balled his first free throw then hit seven straight. Kevin came out slow than really turned the game around with a double-double. Marko really stepped up his game. And we only had eight turnovers against a very experienced, aggressive team."

Freshman Jared DuBois continued to lead the young Lions, stuffing the stat sheet with nine points, six rebounds and six assists. He was also part of an LMU backcourt that shut down one of the nation's best scorers.

The Lions held Preseason All-American Honorable Mention selection, Brandon Ewing, under double digits for the first time in 21 games, dating back to the middle of last season. On top of that, the Lions held a Cowboys team that averages better than 48 percent from the field to 40 percent and 28 percent from behind the arc.

LMU played the Cowboys tough throughout the game. They jumped out early to a 19-14 lead on the back of Deric who scored eight of the team's first 13 points. They then withstood an offensive onslaught from Afam Muojeke who scored 16 of his game-high 19 points in the first half. Despite that, the Lions went into halftime down six, 30-24, well within striking distance.

Wyoming came out and jumped out quickly at the beginning of the second half, taking their biggest lead of the game at 37-26 with 16:01 to play. The Lions were not going to go away, though, and they begin chipping away at the lead.

The comeback was a whole team effort. Armstead started it with eight points in a row to draw the team the team within five; he scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half. Young continued to crash the offensive glass, hitting a putback that tied the game at 42-42 with 10!:4 to play; he finished with six offensive rebounds in the game.

Young also had two crowd-pleasing dunks coming off the baseline during their crucial second half run. Deric was there, as he was throughout the game, scoring six points, including the basket that gave the Lions a 48-47 lead with 7:22 to go in the game. DuBois hit a three-pointer to tie game at 51 minutes late.

An unsung hero in the comeback was senior Chris Kanne. He came in to the game for the first time when the Lions were trailing 35-26 and left the game 11 minutes later with them trailing by just one, 49-48. He didn't score while in the game, but his presence as a steadying influence on the team was undeniable.

"Chris got us back in the game," said Good. "He didn't play in the first half as he had a class commitment and missed shoot-around. He came in and was a facilitator."

Unfortunately, at the end of the game, the superb team effort by the Lions fell just short as the Cowboys inched away at the end of the game to win by seven.

"Our effort was so good. We worked so hard to take a late lead and then we turn it over, they get a couple basket lead and we couldn't get over the hump. I just feel bad for them. They are bustin their tail and are getting any reward yet. We are really getting better."

LMU will have the week off for finals before traveling to UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com.

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