San Diego Tops Loyola in Two Overtimes, 88-82

The road has been extremely inhospitable to West Coast Athletic Conference teams--with the exception of the University of San Diego.

While every other team in the conference has a losing record away from home, San Diego has solidified its lead in the WCAC by running its road record to 9-4. The latest victory, an 88-82 double-overtime win Saturday night at Loyola Marymount, gave the Toreros a sweep of its two-game Los Angeles trip and a two-game lead in the WCAC.

The Toreros improved to 9-1 in the conference, 18-4 overall, while second-place Gonzaga was losing twice over the weekend--on the road--to fall to 6-3. It was the eighth victory in a row for San Diego.

Loyola dropped its fifth straight and fell into last place at 2-6 (10-12 overall) despite playing its most spirited game in weeks.

While San Diego maintained its mastery, Loyola bounced back from last week’s 82-48 embarrassment at San Diego, to the delight of a season-high crowd of 2,751 at Gersten Pavilion.

“We couldn’t play much better than we did tonight,” Loyola Coach Paul Westhead said. “But these are the type you have to cash in.”

San Diego Coach Hank Egan felt his team didn’t play particularly well, but the Toreros’ defense and depth finally outlasted the Lions.

“We played defense when we needed it, rebounded when we needed it and the intangibles got the job done,” Egan said.

The Toreros led by as many as eight points in the second half, but Loyola guard Chris Nikchevich scored nine points in four minutes to pull the Lions to within two, 65-63, with 1:59 left.

San Diego missed two one-and-one opportunities, and Loyola center Vic Lazzaretti tipped in the tying basket with five seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Loyola took the lead in overtime when Dennis Vogel spun in a driving layup, but San Diego built a 74-70 lead with 22 seconds remaining as Mark Manor and Danny Means each hit two free throws.

Loyola guard Enoch Simmons answered with a three-point goal, then Lazzaretti stole the in-bounds pass and fed Mike Yoest, who was fouled and made one of two free throws to force a second extra period.

Yoest fouled out on the center tap, joining Nikchevich and Mark Armstrong on the bench with five fouls, and San Diego steadily pulled away after Means broke the tie with a free throw. Means scored seven points in overtime to tie Scott Thompson and Steve Krallman for team scoring honors with 17. Guard Paul Leonard added 15 points and 8 assists.

Thompson, playing before several NBA scouts including Laker General Manager Jerry West, also had 18 rebounds, playing 48 minutes.

Nikchevich led all scorers with 18 points, including four three-point shots, and had 8 assists. Yoest added 17 points. Lazzaretti had 13 rebounds.

Loyola hit its first three shots and took a 12-7 lead. San Diego took its first lead, 15-14, on a three-pointer by Manor with 14:40 left.

Nikchevich’s third three-pointer tied the game at 17-all six minutes into play.

San Diego quickly broke the tie with three-pointers by Manor and Leonard. Loyola caught up with 9:10 left in the half to tie at 23-23, but Krallman, who played 31 minutes with Nils Madden in foul trouble, then scored seven straight points. San Diego led, 52-36, at the half.