National Basketball Association
Gonzaga 86, Loyola Marymount 67
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 15, 2014
Where: McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, Washington
Officials:
# Jimmy Casas, # Courtney Holmes, # Coban Lopez
Attendance:
6000
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 24 Gonzaga 86, Loyola Marymount 67: Sam Dower recorded 25 points and 15 rebounds in his final home game as the host Bulldogs clinched at least a share of the West Coast Conference title with their ninth straight victory over the Lions.
Kevin Pangos contributed 17 points for Gonzaga (23-4, 12-1 WCC), which pleased the Senior Night crowd with its 25th consecutive home win and 28th conference victory in a row at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Gary Bell Jr. scored 14 points while Przemek Karnowski added 11 points and six rebounds.
Anthony Ireland scored 23 points for Loyola Marymount (11-16, 3-12), which has lost 38 of the last 40 meetings with the Bulldogs dating to 1996. Gabe Levin and Evan Payne added 17 apiece, but could not prevent the Lions from losing their sixth straight game and 12th in the last 13 contests.
Gonzaga pulled away with a 11-2 run - highlight by six points from Karnowski - to move ahead 34-22 with 4:38 left in the first half en route to a 45-31 lead at the break. Karnowski scored 10 points prior to intermission while Dower contributed nine points and five rebounds as the Bulldogs enjoyed a 20-11 advantage on the boards.
Loyola Marymount trimmed the deficit to 52-44 on consecutive baskets by Levin and trailed 61-52 before Dower's three-play restored Gonzaga's double-digit advantage with 8:07 left. Dower followed with another bucket to make it a 14-point game and the Bulldogs didn't led the lead slip below 12 the rest of the way.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Boston Celtics rookie Kelly Olynyk, who left Gonzaga after his junior season, participated in Senior Night festivities as Drew Barham, David Stockton and Brian Bhaskar were honored prior to the game along with Dower. Bhaskar, who entered the game with 1:31 left much to the delight of the crowd, hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left and finished with nine points in 20 minutes this season. ... Ireland moved into third on Loyola Marymount's all-time scoring list and has 2,077 points, trailing the late Hank Gathers (2,490) and Terrell Lowery (2,201). ... Dower, who has 1,153 points and 500 rebounds, had 28 and 14 in the season's first meeting with the Lions, an 82-72 victory Jan. 18.
Top Game Performances
Loyola Marymount |
|
Gonzaga |
Anthony Ireland 23 |
Scoring |
Sam Dower 25 |
Anthony Ireland 5 |
Assists |
David Stockton 5 |
Nick Stover 6 |
Rebounds |
Sam Dower 15 |
Anthony Ireland 10 |
Free Throws Made |
Sam Dower 7 |
Anthony Ireland 3 |
Steals |
Kyle Dranginis 1 |
Alex Osborne 1 |
Blocks |
Angel Nunez 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Loyola Marymount
|
67 |
44.2 |
4-13 |
17-19 |
6 |
22 |
2 |
7 |
11 |
Gonzaga
|
86 |
46.8 |
8-25 |
20-25 |
15 |
35 |
3 |
4 |
10 |