Matadors Fall to LMU on Late Basket

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

A late tip-in would be the difference in CSUN Men's Basketball's (3-7) 69-68 defeat at the hands of Loyola Marymount (4-3) on Saturday evening at The Matadome. The tandem of Darin Johnson and Kendall Smith scored 16 points apiece to lead CSUN while Tavrion Dawson and Aaron Parks each finished with 11 points. Leading in the final seconds, CSUN would fall to the Lions on a put back layup from Stefan Jovanovic with nine seconds left in the game.

"It's difficult when you pretty much beat a team in every statistical category and you lose the game," said head coach Reggie Theus. "So we did what we were supposed to do but the problem was they got 50 points in the paint. It's difficult because I thought we played well enough to win."

For the second-straight season, the Matadors battled the Lions in a tight game that would go down to the wire. After LMU handed the Matadors a 82-80 loss last season in overtime, the Matadors looked to return the favor on Saturday.

The teams traded seven leads in the first half as neither side led by more than five points. Smith scored 11 and dished out five of his seven assists on the night in the first half while Johnson tallied 10 points.

A layup by Smith with 2:16 left in the half put CSUN ahead 34-29. After LMU closed to within 34-33 on a layup from Buay Tuach, Smith led the ball the other way and knocked down a mid-range jumper to send the Matadors into halftime ahead 36-33.

CSUN built a six-point lead following a jumper from Dylan Johns and a 3-pointer by Dawson shortly after halftime, but the Lions would recover with a 12-2 run to take a 47-43 lead with 14:33 left to play. Minutes later, Steven Haney knocked down a 3-pointer to extend the LMU advantage to its biggest of the game at 56-49.

Looking up at a seven-point deficit, the Matadors would construct a 10-4 run over a 3:51 span to cut the deficit to 60-59. CSUN later drew even at 63-63 on a Johnson slam dunk with 4:03 on the clock.

After briefly taking a 65-63 lead, LMU squared the game at 65-65 on a layup by Tuach but the Matadors snatched the lead right back on a Smith 3-pointer in transition with 2:04 left in regulation.

Jovanovic brought LMU closer at 68-67 on a pair of made free throws, giving CSUN possession with 45 seconds remaining. The Matadors though would turn the ball over giving the Lions an opportunity to take the late lead.

On the ensuing possession, Brandon Brown drove to the hoop and missed a runner but Jovanovic cleaned up the play with a lay-in to give his team a 69-68 lead with just nine seconds to go.

CSUN quickly marched down the floor and had a pair of solid looks at the hoop but Parks missed a running drive and Smith misfired on a last second 3-pointer as the horn sounded.

Scoring in double figures for the ninth time in 10 games, Smith has scored 10 or more in five-straight games. Going back to last season, Smith has reached double figures in 16 of the last 18 games. Smith also has converted on his last 16-straight free throws after going 2-for-2 at the line on Saturday.

CSUN shot 46.0 percent for the game while LMU finished shooting 53.6 percent from the floor. As a team, the Matadors went 17-of-19 at the free throw line (89.5 percent) compared to the Lions who shot 7-of-15 for a 46.7 percent clip. CSUN out-rebounded LMU for the game, 30-29.

Jovanovic led the Lions in scoring with 16 points off the bench while Tuach had 12.

The Matadors return to the court on Friday, December 16 against Bethesda. Tip-off from The Matadome is slated for 7 p.m.

Matadors Fall to LMU on Late Basket

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Team Stats

Darin Johnson

Kendall Smith

Tavrion Dawson

Aaron Parks

Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Dylan Johns

Darin Johnson

Aaron Parks

Kendall Smith