Feb. 23, 2012

Final Stats

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - An impressive showing on both ends of the floor propelled the Toreros to arguably their biggest conference win of the season Thursday night in a 60-57 victory at Loyola Marymount.

Through nearly the first 14 minutes, neither team led by more than four points. The Toreros extended their lead to eight with one minute remaining before heading into the locker room at halftime with a six point lead, 28-22.

It was a different story to start the second half, as the Lions came out firing and led by five, 43-38, midway through the second half. But Darian Norris, the lone senior on the Toreros roster, provided the veteran leadership his team needed.

After a scoreless first half, Norris knocked in four pivotal three-pointers inside the last ten minutes to finish with tied with a team-high 12 points.

With 15 seconds remaining and the Toreros leading 58-57, Simi Fajemisin knocked in two clutch free throws to extend the lead to three. Lions' forward Anthony Ireland rimmed out a potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer to seal the Toreros win.

"I'll tell you what, I thought we really fought tonight," San Diego head coach Bill Grier said. "We were tough-minded, physically tough, against a very athletic team."

Ken Rancifer's seven points and seven rebounds might not stand out on the stat sheet, but his defensive efforts certainly did in the eyes of his teammates and head coach.

"I think he (Rancifer) had the biggest impact of the game because he did such a good job defensively on (Drew) Viney," Grier said. "He deserves a lot of credit."

Viney, the Lions' leading scorer, came in to Thursday night averaging 15.9 points per game. Rancifer limited Viney to five points on 2-of-7 shooting.

Christopher Anderson also chipped in with 12 points and five assists, while Dennis Kramer contributed 11 points and six rebounds.

Ashley Hamilton finished with a game high 15 points and Ireland added 14 points for LMU.

Thursday night's game meant a lot for LMU in terms of seeding for the upcoming WCC tournament next weekend in Las Vegas. If LMU would have won tonight's contest and Saturday's against Santa Clara, they potentially could have finished with the second seed.

The Toreros' seeding, however, likely wouldn't have fluctuated with a win or a loss tonight, but they didn't play that way.

"I could not be more proud of the growth we made here," Grier said. We showed incredible character."

The Toreros return to Jenny Craig Pavilion Saturday afternoon to wrap up conference play with a 4 p.m. tip off against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.