Marquette Is Beaten by Loyola : Yoest Hits 11 of 12 to Lead Lions’ Win

Mike Yoest scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half Wednesday night, and Loyola Marymount withstood a late Marquette rally to beat the Warriors, 102-98.

Marquette trailed, 99-96, with 48 seconds left before Loyola Marymount wrapped up the victory on free throws by Mark Armstrong and Jeff Fryer.

Loyola Marymount (9-3) trailed by five at halftime, then used a pressing defense and double-figure scoring from four players for the victory.

Said Loyola Coach Paul Westhead: “The press gave them some problems. We think it helps us.”

Marquette (5-6) dropped its third straight game. Loyola Marymount has won six in a row.

Corey Gaines added 21 points and Hank Gathers 21 for the Lions, who were averaging 106 points entering the game. Gaines also had 10 assists.

“We only run one play,” Westhead said, “the fast break.”

Tony Smith led Marquette with 23 points, while Charles Luter and Trevor Powell had 20 points apiece.

The Lions unleashed a fullcourt press to spur a 21-8 run in the second half, one that gave them a 72-59 lead with 11:58 left. Loyola shot 73.5% in the second half, making 25 of 34 shots.

Luter sparked an eight-point spurt by the Warriors to make it it 74-69 with 9:54 to go.

But Yoest, who made his first 10 shots and 11 of 12 in the game, scored eight straight points as the Lions increased the lead to 91-82 with 4:37 left. A pair of three-point goals by Luter brought Marquette back within five at 95-90 with 3:10 left.

For the game, Loyola made 42 of 69 shots for 60.9%; Marquette hit 41 of 66 of 62.1%. Because of the good shooting, there weren’t many rebounds to be had. However, Loyola had a 29-28 edge on the boards.

“Anytime we can beat a quality program like this, it helps us,” Westhead said. “We’re trying to send earthquake vibrations that we’re around, that our program is improving.”

Loyola Marymount returns home to play Azusa Pacific Saturday night.