Loyola’s Finishing Kick Beats Oral Roberts

Loyola Marymount Coach John Olive spent much of Thursday night’s game against Oral Roberts pleading with his team to rebound.

The Lions were outrebounded, but they improved enough in the second half to rally for an 88-76 victory before 1,128 at Gersten Pavilion.

Loyola (5-7) outscored Oral Roberts, 19-7, in the last five minutes to break a 69-69 tie and a two-game losing streak. Forward Zan Mason led the Lions with personal-best totals of 29 points and 15 rebounds. He scored 21 in the second half after Loyola trailed by one point at halftime.

“It felt like I missed a lot of shots,” said Mason, who made 12 of 27. “It was real physical inside. Guys were hanging on my arm. I just concentrated. I’m supposed to score when my teammates get me the ball.”

Olive credited his team’s inside play for the second-half turnaround. Loyola outrebounded Oral Roberts in the second half, 27-26, after the Titans held a 25-19 halftime advantage. And Oral Roberts shot only 32.5% in the second half.

“In the first half, their transition game and offensive rebounding hurt us,” Olive said.

Oral Roberts (3-8), which has lost all seven of its road games, was hurt when 6-foot-7 forward LeNard Jones fouled out with 6:38 to play. Without Jones, the Titans had to rely inside on 6-7 forward Ray Thompson, who led his team with 23 points and a game-high 19 rebounds.

But Jones scored only two points in the last nine minutes, as Loyola picked up its game. Mason scored 10 points in the last five minutes.