After an ugly win over Pepperdine last Thursday, I wasn't feeling to confident for the game against San Francisco Saturday. The Dons were coming in hot, and LMU had just barely squeaked out a win at San Francisco Dec. 31. In fact, the two teams had been separated by only a combined four points in the previous three match-ups.
I feared my gut instinct was right when the Lions got off to a horrible start Saturday. The team had eight first half turnovers, shot 37 percent from the floor and only 14 percent from three and allowed the Dons to shoot 47 percent and an impressive 48 percent from deep. The lead would get as large as 19 numerous times, and every time the Lions began to claw their way back the Dons would hit a rally-ending three.
But even during tough seasons, games and moments, this team has never been one to quit. However, as Lions fans will know, the team is notorious for making a huge comeback and falling just short. But not this time.
The win turns what started as 30 minutes of sloppy play into positive momentum for the team. They now hit the road for a tough road trip with confidence and more camaraderie than ever before. And all that without even mentioning how important that win was for LMU's place in the West Coast Conference standings. The victory allowed LMU to further distance itself from San Francisco, and keep pace with BYU with just five regular season games remaining.
But I am not one to critique the team when it loses and solely praise it when it wins. The Lions cannot expect to play an astonishing ten minutes of basketball night-after-night and beat teams like Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and BYU. The team was able to pull out the miraculous comeback with hot shooting that it can't expect night in and night out.
The Lions have yet to lose a conference game on the road, but haven't been tested away from Gersten Pavilion in a couple weeks. Thursday's showdown with Portland tips off at 8 p.m.
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