Lowery Carries Loyola Past USD : College basketball: He scores 41 points in 106-104 victory.

The University of San Diego did most of what was humanly possible to shut down Loyola Marymount scoring leader Terrell Lowery in the second half, and for a while it worked.

But Lowery scored 18 of his season-high 41 points in overtime as Loyola outlasted USD San Diego, 106-104, in double overtime Saturday, sending a Sports Center standing room crowd of 2,500 home talking about his phenomenal clutch performance.

Lowery hit two three-point baskets in the final 30 seconds of the first overtime, both with Gylan Dottin draped on him, to produce an 89-89 tie after the Lions trailed throughout the five-minute period. They were down, 87-83, with 36 seconds left.

“I thought it was over,” Loyola Coach Jay Hillock said. “Terrell was brilliant in the overtimes.”

In the second overtime, the Lions took the lead for good on Rahim Harris’ free throws to break a 95-95 tie with 2:40 left. Lowery then scored his final seven points, including two on an intentional foul by Geoff Probst with five seconds left, to clinch it.

The loss, USD’s sixth in a row, dropped them into a tie for fifth place in the West Coast Conference with Portland at 3-7. They’re 11-12 overall. Loyola’s victory, its second in a row in overtime on the road, was the its fifth in six games and saw them improve to 13-10 overall and 6-5 in the WCC, a half-game behind third-place Santa Clara (6-4).

Reed Watson led San Diego with 22 points and 13 rebounds, both career highs, to lead seven players scoring in double figures. Chris Grant had a career-best 18. Dottin had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Harris added a career-high 24 points for Loyola, hitting 10 of 15 shots, and Chris Knight had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lions outshot USD, 50.6% to 45.1%, and made six of 10 three-pointers. USD outrebounded the visitors, 54-40.

Loyola rallied at the end of the first overtime after USD had taken a five-point lead. Lowery converted two free throws with 39 seconds left to cut the lead to 85-83. Two free throws by Brown three seconds later made it 87-83, and Lowery came right back with a three-pointer, making it a one-point game.

Two more Brown free throws made it 89-86 with 28 seconds to go, but Lowery hit his sixth three-pointer with 17 seconds left to send it to double overtime, shooting over Dottin’s close defense. USD failed to get off a good shot before the buzzer, and Loyola pulled away in the second extra period.

“Our effort was not good enough,” USD Coach Hank Egan. “It was good enough in the first overtime but not the second.”

Loyola used a 13-0 burst late in the first half to take a 47-43 halftime lead. USD led for much of the early going before Lowery heated up, making three consecutive three-point baskets as Loyola took a 29-26 lead.

USD, which shot only 37% in the half, scored the next four points before Loyola took off on the 13-0 streak, which started and ended on baskets by Knight, to take a 42-30 lead. Knight, who had 10 points in the half, made all five shots. The Lions shot 54% in the half, including three of five three-point attempts. Lowery had 16 points at the break.

USD rallied in the final 1:30 of the half, scoring five of the last seven points to trim the lead.

The Toreros trimmed the lead to one midway through the second half and took their first lead of the period at 61-59 on a three-point basket by Probst with 10:54 to play. The teams then traded leads five times and were tied five times, the last at 78, which was the score at the end of regulation.

The Lions have beaten USD their last five trips here, and they’re teams heading in opposite directions as the WCC Tournament nears.

“We were lucky, but we played hard and caused some of our luck,” Hillock said. “The kids played through it.”