LOS ANGELES, CA ‘ Keith Kincade scored 18 points, and Chris Ayer had 13 points and 14 rebounds, to lead Loyola Marymount to a 78-54 non-conference win over ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ Friday at the Gersten Pavilion.'xml:namespace prefix = o ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office' />
ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ (6-5) split its two-game road trip to California, while the Lions improved to 8-4, their best non-conference mark in eight seasons.
Also in double figures for LMU were Sherman Gay with 16 points and Charles Brown with 14. Howard Blue led ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ with 19 points, while Andrew Zidar tallied 11 and grabbed eight rebounds.
The Raiders had a poor shooting night making only 31 percent of their field goal attempts, and shooting only 52 percent from the line. ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ was leading the Patriot League in foul shooting percentage but made only 15-of-28 attempts.
ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ held an early 6-4 lead before the Lions tallied eight straight points for a six-point advantage. The Raiders came back to trail by one point on Alvin Reed’s 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by Blue.
LMU immediately took control of the game with a 15-2 run as they moved out to a 14-point lead, 27-13. They led 36-20 at halftime.
In the second half, ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ scored the first four points on baskets by Zidar and Blue to cut the deficit to three points, but the Lions roared back with nine straight points to a 12-point lead, 45-33.
GAME NOTES: This was the first meeting ever between these two schools. Loyola Marymount will visit ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ next season ‘ senior Mark Linebaugh, ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ’s second leading scorer, was held to no points for only the second time in his outstanding career. He had no points against Arizona State in his second collegiate game ‘ Linebaugh had two rebounds to reach 300 in his career ‘ Keith Williams, battling back from a serious knee injury, had his first two points of the season ‘ Josh Humphrey equaled his career high for assists with three and Zidar had a career-high three steals.