Talk about a heart-breaker, Lions fall to Pilots in double OT

Drew Viney had 24 points in the loss | Courtesy of Facebook

The Lions lost a heart-breaker in Portland tonight, falling to the Pilots 79-78 in double OT. LMU finished regulation on a 9-2 run to force OT, but poor free throw shooting and a questionable foul call cost the Lions the game in the end. The Lions fall to 1-2 in WCC play while the Pilots improve to 1-1.

Junior Drew Viney, who had been seemingly absent for LMU for two and a half games, turned things around in the second half tonight, knocking down two huge three-pointers to keep the Lions in the game and scoring 20 of his 24 points. With his team down by one with five seconds to play, Viney received the ball out of a timeout and burried a three from the corner to give LMU a 60-58 lead. The entire LMU team, however, failed to get back on defense, and redshirt freshman Edgar Garibay fouled Portland's Jared Stohl with two seconds to play. He knocked down both free throws to send the game into overtime.

In overtime, freshman Anthony Ireland made his presence known, scoring five points in the first overtime period including burying a deep three. Garibay had a chance to help the Lions take the lead late in OT, stepping to the free throw line with his team down by one and 20 seconds on the clock. After missing the first one, Garibay tied the game at 66 on the second, and LMU played solid defense for the final 19 seconds, sending the game into its second overtime period.

After the two teams exchanged baskets to start double OT, senior Vernon Teel had a mental lapse, earning himself a technical foul and giving the Pilots two shots and the ball, after missing two of two free throws himself. Teel had been a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe prior to the technical.

It was the Lions second technical of the game, as Head Coach Max Good had been called for one late in regulation. It led to two Portland points.

Settling back in, the Lions found themselves down by four with 23 seconds to play, after Tim Douglas from Portland failed to extend his team's lead to five by making just one of two free throws. Again Viney showed up in the clutch, trailing Teel down the court and receiving the pass and shooting a long three in rhythm. He banked it in to bring the score to 76-75 in favor of the home team.

After another splits at the free throw line from Douglas, Viney attempted a three from the corner with ten seconds to play, but the ball went in and out. Teel was then called for his fifth foul of the game, on an extremely questionable call, and Stohl iced the game with two free throws with five seconds to play.

Ireland knocked down a three at the buzzer, but it was too little too late.

For Viney, it was his best game in weeks, as he paced all players with 24 points. Teel had the worst shooting night of his career, going 0-10 from the field, but did pull down a game high 11 rebounds and dish out a game high five assists. Ireland contributed 15 points.

The game marked the return for Ashley Hamilton, who had missed four weeks after breaking his hand. He had five points, nine rebounds and four steals.

The Lions weekend doesn't get any easier, as they will travel to Spokane, Wash. and take on powerhouse Gonzaga on Saturday. Gonzaga is 2-0 in conference play after a win over Pepperdine tonight. The game tips off early at 5 p.m.