Box Score
LOS ANGELES, Calif. --- The Portland Pilots trailed most of regulation before taking the lead late, only to have the Loyola Marymount Lions force overtime and then take a 77-68 victory Saturday night at Gersten Pavilion. It is the second consecutive home upset for the Lions, who dealt No. 9 Gonzaga a 74-66 loss on Thursday. The Pilots drop to 17-9 overall and are alone in third place at 8-4 in the West Coast Conference.
T.J. Campbell led the Pilots with 17 points, while Jared Stohl added 16 and Ethan Niedermeyer had 11. Luke Sikma grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for Portland.
Vernon Teel scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, including a clutch three-pointer late, to pace the Lions.
After trailing for the first 36 minutes of regulation, the Pilots took their first lead of the game on a steal and layup by Campbell with 3:15 remaining. A Niedermeyer jumper with1:45 remaining made it 58-57 Pilots and then Sikma stole the ball on the defensive end and Stohl converted two free throws to make it 60-57.
Teel hit a pull-up three-pointer just before the shot clock buzzer went off to tie it at 60-60, but then fouled Campbell at the other end. After two Campbell free throws, Tell was fouled with12.5 seconds remaining in regulation, but missed both free throws and the Pilots had the ball out of bounds. Portland turned over the inbounds pass and gave possession back to LMU. Larry Davis hit a tough runner to tie it at 62-62 with five seconds remaining and Campbell’s contested three at the buzzer was short to send the game to overtime.
LMU (15-13, 6-6) controlled overtime from start-to-finish, jumping out to a 71-66 lead on a Jarred DuBois step-back jumper. The Pilots missed consecutive looks at the hoop on the next two possessions. Teel then made two free throws with 39.6 seconds remaining to make it 73-66 and the Lions would hold on for the win.
Portland shot 37 percent from the field for the game and committed 21 turnovers in the game. The Pilots were averaging just 10 turnovers per game in WCC contests, but gave up a 25-17 margin in points off of turnovers.
LMU shot 49.1 percent from the field and also gained a 28-20 edge in points in the paint. The Pilots were able to convert 9-of-22 three-pointers, while the Lions were 3-for-10 from long range.
The Lions were coming off their first win over a ranked opponent in 20 years with Thursday’s victory over Gonzaga and came out firing in the early going. Teel had 11 first-half points and LMU led by nine on numerous occasions, the last with 7:25 remaining. Portland would answer with big shots late and a three-pointer by Stohl with less than a minute left in the period make it a 32-30 deficit at the half.
Portland will return to the Chiles Center and close out the regular season with three home games. The Pilots will host San Francisco on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Santa Clara on Saturday at 8 p.m., with both games televised live on Comcast SportsNet Northwest. Portland will then host Lewis and Clark on Tuesday, March 2 at 7 p.m. for Senior Night.
