San Diego Outplays Loyola

Loyola Marymount Coach John Olive said before Friday night’s game against San Diego that his team was “playing at as high a level as we have played all season.”

He wasn’t saying that after the Lions were outhustled, outmuscled, and obviously outplayed by the Toreros, who had an answer for every Lion rally and held on for a 65-59 West Coast Conference victory before 1,281 at Gersten Pavilion.

“We were very sloppy,” said Olive, whose team fell to 17-9 overall, 7-6 in the WCC. “For whatever reason, our focus was just not there.”

San Diego’s was. The Toreros (11-13, 5-8) used a 13-1 run to open a 59-51 lead with 2:16 to play.

The Lions countered with a 7-0 run, capped by a Mike O’Quinn steal and dunk, to cut the deficit to 59-58 with 35.5 seconds left, but San Diego’s freshman guard, Brock Jacobsen, made four consecutive free throws to put the game out of reach.

By losing, the Lions, who committed 22 turnovers, fell into a fourth-place tie with Portland in the WCC.

However, if they defeat San Francisco in the conference regular-season finale tonight, they will move into a third-place tie with the Dons and earn the third seeding in the conference tournament regardless of what Portland does.

Against the Toreros, who won their first league road game, Lion forward Ben Ammerman looked as if he would single-handedly keep his team in the game, connecting on his first four shots--all three-pointers.

But Ammerman, who had a game-high 15 points, scored only three after that and looked as out of sync as his teammates.

The Lions got 13 points from guard Mike O’Quinn and 11 from center Ime Oduok. Forward Brian Miles and guard David Fizdale scored 14 to lead the Toreros.