At the Spanos Center in Stockton, California, Loyala Marymount came away with a huge win after trailing behind by double-digits in the second half to the Pacific Tigers, winning 76-71 in overtime.
Both sides came out struggling to shoot the ball this afternoon as there were just thirteen points scored until TJ Wallace got his first points to push the Tigers lead to 10-6 with a made three pointer. It would be sloppy, however, with both sides committing silly turnovers that you just cannot make at the collegiate level. The visitors were very well rounded in with their offense, with multiple players getting on the score sheet, including Godwin Okonji, David Humphries, Marin Mornar and Evan Payne.
Loyal Marymount trailed 52-41 with 10 minutes and 21 seconds left to go in the game after Wallace made another layup. They kept at it though and slowly but surely climbed their way back into the game with Marin Mornar leading the charge. Mornar made a three pointer with a little over six minutes to go in the game, cutting the Tigers lead to two. The visitors would never lead in the second half, but Evan Payne would score the game tying layup with 47 seconds remaining to send this game overtime.
In this extra period, LMU raced out to a 65-61 lead, and kept up this pace, making sure that Pacific didn't get much closer. With less than twenty seconds left to go in overtime, Marin Mornar missed the second of two free throws which put LMU up 72-68. However, Pacific did not get the rebound and somehow, David Humphries got the offensive board and put the ball through the hoop for the final dagger, extending the Lions lead to six. Wallace did manage to shoot a quick three down the other end with just four seconds off the clock, but it was to little too late.
It was Marin Mornar who would eventually lead all scorers with 24 big points for the LMU Lions, as the Croatian big man shot 9 of 17 from the field while grabbing eleven rebounds as well. Evan Payne was huge off the bench finishing one shy of Mornar's total with 23 points. Payne did it from the free throw line though, making all eight of his shots from the charity strike. Humphries played well on the defensive side of the ball pressuring the Tigers offense and coming away with just one steal but causing many turnovers.
For Pacific, Alec Kobre led the team with 17 points, shooting just under 50% with 12 ouf his 13 attempts from the field coming from beyond the three point line. The Tigers biggest problem this afternoon, however, was the amount of turnovers they committed -- 15 -- which led to some easy buckets down at the other end. They will have to work on keeping the ball if they want a chance of winning a few more games this season.
Loyal Marymount will take on San Diego at home on Thursday night in Los Angeles, while the University of Pacific will hit the road to take on St. Mary's Saturday night.