Box Score

Highlights

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Loyola Marymount Lions knocked off the Portland Pilots 80-68 Thursday night in West Coast Conference action at Gersten Pavilion. Ayodeji Egbeyemi scored a game-high 22 points for the Lions, while sophomore point guard Alec Wintering scored 17 for the Pilots. LMU junior forward Marin Mornar added a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds for LMU (5-13, 1-5 WCC).

Portland freshman Gabe Taylor matched his career high with 12 points off the bench. Senior forward Volodymyr Gerun and freshman guard D'Marques Tyson added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Wintering finished 5-for-8 from the field, 2-of-3 from three point range, and added seven assists and three steals.

The Pilots (11-7, 2-4) trailed by 14 points early in the second half and then went to the bench trying to find a spark. Featuring a lineup of all underclassmen – Wintering, Taylor, Jason Todd, Aitor Zubizarreta and Philipp Hartwich – Portland raced to an 18-5 run. Taylor scored eight points during the run and the Pilots cut the deficit to 49-48 with 11:00 remaining.

The Lions responded with back-to-back three-point plays by Egbeyemi and Mornar that led to a 13-0 run to push the margin back to 62-48. LMU would lead by as much as 16 points late, but Portland would make one more run.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Kevin Bailey and Tyson made it 70-62 with 2:45 remaining, but the Lions made 10-of-12 free throws the rest of the way to secure the victory.

LMU outrebounded the Pilots by a 39-33 margin and shot 51 percent from the field. They also made 8-of-12 three-pointers and 20-of-26 free throws.

Portland forced 15 turnovers which led to a 21-7 margin in points off of turnovers, but shot just 39 percent from the field, 8-for-27 from three-point range and 8-of-13 at the foul line.

LMU came out firing in the first half to take a 36-26 lead into halftime. The Lions drilled 7-of-11 from three-point range in the opening period.

Portland will continue its road trip with a Saturday game at Pepperdine with a 5 p.m. tip-off. The game will be televised on ROOT Sports NW, Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Comcast California. Radio coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. on Sports 910 (KMTT). Watch parties for all Pilot WCC road games will be held at Buffalo Wild Wings-Lloyd District.