University of San Francisco Athletics

Box Score

LOS ANGELES  – Behind a career high 25 points from Avry Holmes, USF defeated Loyola Marymount 65-61 Saturday night at Gersten Pavilion for its 20^th win of the season.
 
The win, the Dons fifth straight to close the regular season, improves USF's record to 20-10 overall and 13-5 in the West Coast Conference.
 
It marks the second time in the last three seasons the Dons have reached the 20-win plateau under head coach Rex Walters, while the team's 13 conference wins are the most by a USF team since the 1976-77 season. The 20 wins are also the most in a regular season by a USF team since 1981-82.
 
USF finishes the regular season tied with BYU for second place in the conference standings, but will be seeded third in next week's WCC Championships, where the Dons will meet San Diego in quarterfinal action on Saturday at a time to be determined.
 
Cole Dickerson finished with 14 points while Kruize Pinkins notched his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and 1 rebounds. Tim Derksen came off the bench to chip in 10. Matt Glover pulled down 11 rebounds.
 
Anthony Ireland, C.J. Blackwell and Eric Payne each had 13 points to pace the Lions, who had only six players available tonight due to injury.
 
Holmes scored seven of his 25 points over the last 3:16 of the game, including a three-pointer that gave USF a 59-54 lead with 3:16 left in the game.
 
With USF nursing a 60-58 lead with :33 seconds left, Holmes gave the Dons some breathing room after converting an acrobatic layup that gave the Dons a 62-48 advantage.
 
After LMU's Anthony Ireland misfired, Holmes was fouled by Nick Stover and sank both free throws with :20 left to give USF a 64-58 lead.
 
However, the Lions did not go quietly. C.J. Blackwell's three-pointer cut the lead to 64-61 with :13 left. Following a timeout, the Dons were called for a five second violation when they were unable to in bounds the ball under the Lion basket.
 
Blackwell missed an open three that would have tied the game with :04 left. Derksen was fouled on the rebound and made one of two free throws with :01 left to account for the 65-61 final.
 
USF, which never trailed in the game, enjoyed an eight point 35-27 lead at the half but the Lions used the first 1:40 of the second half to cut the lead down to three at 35-32. The Dons led 44-42 with 10:25 left and proceeded to go on a 12-5 run, capped by a Holmes three-pointer, that boosted the lead to 56-47 with 5:44 remaining.
 
The Lions then scored the next seven points to cut the lead to 56-54 with 3:41 left, setting up the wild finish.
 
Rex Walters' Post-Game Comments
 
"We won ugly. Our guys found a way to get it done but I give a lot of credit to Loyola Marymount. They are so banged up but they play so hard."
 
"Avry was fantastic down the stretch. He made some real big plays for us again. Cole came up big and it took a while to get Kruize going but he finished with a double-double. We had Mark (Tollefsen) chase anyone who was hot. If he doesn't get defensive player of the year, something is wrong."
 
"When he (Avry) shot it down the stretch I knew it was going in – that's the kind of player he his and the kind of confidence he has in his abilities."
 
"I'm proud of our guys. We've done something this year that hasn't been done in a long time during the regular season. We have our third season coming up next week and we have to attack it and continue to get better."
 
"Nobody wants to play anybody in our league. That said, we're going to show up and attack them and play hard and hopefully keep finding a way. It's a great challenge every night out."