Loyola Falls Into a Tie for Seventh

Loyola Marymount and the University of San Francisco, playing opposite the Super Bowl, drew an estimated crowd of 450 to Gersten Pavilion for their West Coast Conference basketball game Sunday afternoon.

But the lack of fanfare didn’t bother San Francisco Coach Jim Brovelli, whose team completed its first WCC sweep in Los Angeles since 1980 with a 64-60 victory, less than 24 hours after the Dons ended Pepperdine’s 38-game record conference winning streak.

“It’s not easy to win down here,” Brovelli said. “To get a split anywhere in the conference is difficult. To get a sweep is a real bonus.”

Loyola threatened to prevent the Dons from accomplishing that, but the Lions let the game slip away after point guard Bill Mazurie fouled out with 3:22 to play and the score tied, 57-57.

“It hurt a lot,” Loyola Coach John Olive said of losing Mazurie. “He was playing very well, making good decisions. But let’s face it, down the stretch (San Francisco) made the plays and we didn’t make the plays.”

Loyola (7-11, 2-4 in the WCC) would have caused a four-way tie for third place with a victory. Instead, the Lions dropped into a tie for seventh with Portland in the eight-team conference.

“Today was a must-win game, and we didn’t get it,” Olive said. “But there are a lot of must-wins yet to come. It’s going to happen.”

San Francisco (14-7, 4-2) moved into a second-place tie with Gonzaga by equaling its number of conference victories a year ago.

Guard Gerald Walker and forward Kent Bennett led four Dons in double figures with 12 points each. Walker’s 10-foot jump shot with 1:33 to play gave San Francisco a 61-57 lead, and his two free throws with 26 seconds remaining made it 63-58.

Trailing, 61-58, Loyola squandered a chance to pull close when center Brian McCloskey missed a short jump shot from the baseline and the ball went out of bounds to San Francisco with 30 seconds left.

Loyola led, 56-55, with 4:34 to play after a three-point play by Mazurie, but the Lions scored only one more field goal--a meaningless layup by McCloskey at the buzzer.