Williamson Starts Late, Finishes Fast for Loyola

Jim Williamson came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points, including an important basket late in the second half, to lead Loyola Marymount to a 63-56 victory over San Diego in a West Coast Conference game on Saturday night.

Williamson, who had started the Lions’ previous 56 games, was held out of the starting lineup for failing to adhere to the team’s road dress code--not wearing a sport jacket on the trip to San Diego. He said he forgot his jacket.

But Williamson, a 5-foot-10 point guard, made up for it after San Diego had reduced Loyola’s lead to 59-56, scoring on a difficult running 10-foot hook shot over San Diego’s 6-foot-9 center Brian Miles with 31 seconds left, putting the Lions ahead, 61-56.

Loyola (10-4, 1-1 WCC) cooled off in the second half after shooting 54.2% (13 of 24) in the first half to take a 30-23 lead. But the Lions did manage to make 14 of 18 second-half free throws to hold off the Toreros.

Brock Jacobsen scored 16 points for San Diego (7-6, 2-1). A victory would have given the Toreros their first 3-0 start in the WCC.

Williamson made only six of his 15 shots. However, he made all six free-throw attempts, including four in the final two minutes.

Mike O’Quinn added 14 points for the Lions and Ime Oduok had 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.