Loyola Marymount Loses in Overtime : College basketball: Notre Dame leads for most of the game, but Lions’ Oduok and Williamson make the Irish earn their 76-73 victory.

Loyola Marymount, giddy from its best start in eight seasons and a furious second-half comeback that had Notre Dame on its heels, was brought back to earth when it broke down at the end of Monday night’s game.

The Lions, who had overcome a 14-point deficit, failed to finish off the comeback and lost in overtime, 76-73, before 3,289 at Loyola.

“Our heart and effort and passion were there,” Coach John Olive said, “but we made a lot of mistakes.”

Despite their hard work, the Lions couldn’t overcome them.

“We definitely had it,” said sophomore point guard Jim Williamson, who played all 45 minutes and scored 22 points.

Despite making only 41.4% of its shots and only 22 of 40 free throws, Loyola (3-1) rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit and took its only lead of the game at 66-64 on a layup by senior guard Robin Kirksey with 90 seconds to play.

At the other end, reserve guard Keith Kurowski, who led the Irish (3-1) with 19 points, missed a running bank shot and Loyola’s Ime Oduok took the rebound, giving the Lions a 20-1 rebound advantage in the second half.

But when Williamson missed an off-balance jumper with about 20 seconds to play and Notre Dame got the rebound, Kirksey committed an ill-advised foul from behind as Ryan Hoover dribbled the ball across mid-court.

Hoover made two free throws with 17.2 seconds left in regulation, pulling the Irish even, before teammate Pat Garrity made a curious move.

As Loyola inbounded the ball, the freshman forward intentionally fouled Oduok, whose poor free-throw shooting had kept the Irish in the game despite his 27 points and 16 rebounds.

Garrity went to the bench with his fifth foul, joining two other Irish big men--Matt Gotsch and Marcus Young--who fouled out trying to check Oduok.

“We got mixed up there,” Irish Coach John MacLeod said. “We only wanted to foul if we (were trailing).”

But Oduok, who made only 11 of his school-record 23 free throws, made it look like a brilliant move, missing two foul shots with 16.7 seconds to play.

Hoover missed a three-point shot at the buzzer, but Notre Dame never trailed in overtime, building a 74-69 lead before Loyola rallied again to pull to within 74-73. Williamson, though, was called for a flagrant foul while trying to stop Derek Manner on a breakaway.

Manner missed both free throws with 44.2 seconds to play, but the Irish retained possession. Hoover missed a driving bank shot as the clock wound down, but the rebound kicked out to Kurowski, who was fouled.

His two free throws made the score 76-73 with 10 seconds left.

Loyola had one more chance, but Williamson’s three-point attempt was blocked by Irish forward Billy Taylor.