Jan. 29, 2005

No. 17 Gonzaga - 91
Portland - 79

SPOKANE, Wash. -J.P. Batista had 25 points and 12 rebounds and No. 17 Gonzaga held off stubborn Portland 91-79 on Saturday night.

Gonzaga (15-4, 5-2 West Coast Conference) made 34 of 39 free throws to withstand a second-half Portland rally in a game that was not decided until the final minutes.

Adam Morrison added 18 points and Ronny Turiaf 16 points and 9 rebounds for Gonzaga. Derek Raivio had 15 points.

Portland (13-9, 2-5), the last WCC team to beat Gonzaga at home, trailed by as many as 14 in the first half before taking the lead several times in the second half.

Pooh Jeter led the Pilots with 22 points, while Donald Wilson added 17 and Ben Sullivan had 12. The Pilots attempted only 12 free throws, making 10.

Gonzaga outrebounded the Pilots 42-22. The Bulldogs are 32-0 at home when ranked. They have won 20 home games in a row.

Trailing by six at halftime, Portland scored the first seven points of the second half, with Donald Wilson's two free throws giving the Pilots a 48-47 lead.

After Batista scored, Portland scored four more points for a 52-49 lead.

The teams traded the lead, mostly on free throws, repeatedly for the next 11 minutes.

Batista hit a pair of free throws and Adam Morrison a layup as Gonzaga built a 76-70 lead with 5:27 left.

Sullivan hit a 3-pointer, but Batista replied with a layup for a 78-73 Gonzaga lead.

Jeter hit a pair of 3-pointers to cut Gonzaga's lead to 82-79.

But Raivio sank two free throws, Portland turned over the ball and Morrison made them pay with a 3-pointer for an 87-79 Gonzaga lead with 1:50 left. The Pilots never threatened after that.

In the first half, Batista scored 11 points as Gonzaga jumped to a 22-14 lead. After Sullivan's 3-pointer for Portland, Gonzaga scored nine straight for a 31-17 lead. Jeremiah Dominquez' 3-pointer at the buzzer narrowed Gonzaga's lead to 47-41 at halftime.

Loyola Marymount - 63
Pepperdine - 46

Los Angeles, CA (Jan. 29) - In front of the fifth largest crowd in school history, the Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team put the cap on a memorable evening with a 63-46 win over rival Pepperdine in West Coast Conference play on Saturday night in front of 4,302 fans at Gersten Pavilion.

It was a memorable evening all around for the Lions as they honored the 2005 Class of the LMU Hall of Fame during halftime, including the 1989-90 men's basketball team that went to the Elite Eight. It was fitting that it was the largest crowd since that 1990 season and current senior Charles Brown , the lone four-year player on the squad, scored his 1,000-career point with free throws in the second half.

""It was a great evening to be a Lion," said Head Coach Steve Aggers . "A great crowd, the 1989-90 team being recognized, Charles earning his 1000th career point and beating your cross-town rival. It was a great night for LMU."

Brown finished with 11 points on the night as three Lions scored in double figures, paced by sophomore Matthew Knight with 15 and junior Wes Wardrop with 12. However, on a night when LMU recognized the highest scoring team in NCAA Division I history, it was defense that did the job for the Lions as they snap a five-game skid on the season and a 13-game skid to the Waves with the win. LMU improves to 10-10 on the season 2-5 in the WCC. Pepperdine drops their fifth straight and falls to 12-10 overall and 2-5 in conference play.

The Lions held the Waves, who entered the game ranked fourth in scoring at 73.3 points per game, to just 46 points on 29.6 percent shooting. It was the lowest scoring game for the Waves since scoring 44 in a loss to San Francisco in 1999. Alex Acker was the only Wave in double figures with 11. The Lions finished hitting 41.8 percent, earning 20 assists on 23 field goals.

"I was proud of how well we played defensively tonight," said Aggers. "We held a high scoring team 20 points below their average. Our intensity and energy was really a difference tonight. This was a great win for our program." LMU improves to 18-1 in games under Aggers when holding opponents under 60 points.

The Lions jumped out to their largest lead of the first half right before break when Daryl Pegram hit a three-pointer with 13 seconds remaining. Pegram returned to the line-up after missing the last two games with a left knee injury. Sophomore Brandon Worthy also returned after missing nine games after knee surgery on Dec. 29.

"We really shared the ball well tonight and I was happy with our rebounding. In getting Daryl and Brandon back, it allowed us to play in our traditional roles," said Aggers. "It will take us a while to get back into sync, but getting our full compliment of players back to night was huge lift to our team. We had a great week of practice and our confidence was up a couple of notches." LMU finished with a 41-39 edge in rebounding and outscored Pepperdine 30-14 in the paint.

LMU stretched their lead to 13 on a lay-up by Pegram with 15:14 remaining in the game. Pegram finished the game with nine points and a eight rebounds. The Lions would never surrender the lead in the second half as Pepperdine cut the lead to as low as six, 50-44, with 5:25 remaining. LMU's defense did the rest, holding the Waves to just two points on a field goal the rest of the way. The Lions finished the game on a 13-2 run.

Santa Clara - 85
San Diego - 73

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -Travis Niesen scored 20 points Saturday to help Santa Clara beat San Diego 85-73.

Kyle Bailey added 17 points and matched his career high with six steals as the Broncos (12-10, 5-2 West Coast) got their fifth win in six games. Doron Perkins added 13 points, 11 during a four-minute period that gave Santa Clara its biggest lead. Sean Denison scored 12.

Brice Vounang scored 26 points to lead the Toreros (10-10, 2-5), which lost their third straight. Brandon Gay added 22 points as San Diego suffered from 24 turnovers. The Broncos' 16 steals were the third-most in school history.

Santa Clara and San Diego have split their season series the past seven years.

The Toreros outscored the Broncos 9-2 to draw within 44-41 less than four minutes into the second half. But Perkins scored 11 points - including the final eight - during a 16-4 run that helped the Broncos establish a 15-point advantage. They maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

The game was tied at 15 midway through the first half when Santa Clara, fueled by Niesen's eight points, scored 24 of the next 35 points to open a 15-point edge.

San Diego rallied in the final two minutes to close within 42-32 by halftime.