Loyola Has Plenty Left in Second Half

Guard Terrell Lowery and forward Rahim Harris keyed a second-half surge Monday night to carry Loyola Marymount over Lehigh, 106-97, in a nonconference game at Gersten Pavilion.

The Lions (6-4) broke a 56-56 tie by outscoring Lehigh, 19-8, in the first five minutes of the second half to take a 75-64 lead. Lowery scored nine of his game-high 30 points and Harris scored seven of his season-high 18 during the stretch.

“I think (Lehigh) got tired in the second half,” Lowery said. “They couldn’t finish off their shots the way they did in the first half. We capitalized on that.”

Despite its shooting problems (38% in the second half), Lehigh (4-5) was able to cut its deficit to 96-92 with 2:35 left on a shot in the lane by center Dozie Mbonu.

But Loyola went ahead by six on two free throws by Lowery and took a 100-92 lead with 1:34 left on a layup by forward Brian McCloskey. That basket came after Lehigh forward Bob Krizansky, who led his team with 28 points, shot an airball after being guarded closely by the Lions.

“I thought we got into the flow of our game in the second half,” said Loyola Coach Jay Hillock, whose team shot 51% in the second half. “We made our first couple of shots and our press got going.”

Lehigh Coach Dave Duke acknowledged his team appeared tired but credited Loyola. “They shot the ball well in the second half,” he said. “But we got it down to four. They had to play well to beat us.”

Loyola outrebounded Lehigh, 54-44, the third time in nine games that the Lions have had that edge. Chris Knight led Loyola with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.