Dons Roll Lions in Los Angeles

Saturday, February 17

Los Angeles, Calif.

6:00 PM

University of San Francisco

21-6,10-2WCC

LMU

10-16,3-9WCC

Team	1	2	F
San Francisco	43	39	82
LMU (CA)	28	31	59

Photo by: Josiah Destin

2/17/2024 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Picking up their six straight victory in dominant fashion, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (21-6, 10-2 WCC) as the Dons cruised past LMU (10-16, 3-9 WCC), 82-59, on Saturday night at Gersten Pavilion.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Knocking down his first attempt from beyond-the-arc, Mike Sharavjamts got the scoring started just 22 seconds into play as the guard nailed his first triple of the evening on the wing to give USF an early 3-0 lead.
After the Lions got on the board and took the lead with their first baskets of the night, Sharavjamts banged home his second trey to start the ballgame at 15:29 to put USF back in front, 9-8.
Justice Hill followed by tying the contest at 9-9 with a free throw at 15:02, but consecutive layups courtesy of Marcus Williams and Ndewedo Newbury gave the green and gold their advantage back, 13-9.
Joining the action off the bench, Robby Beasley sank his first attempt from distance at 11:31 to keep the Dons on top, 19-14. As the midway mark of the first half approached, Alex Merkviladze cut the Lions deficit to just two, 21-19, but two straight baskets from Jonathan Mogbo and Williams kept San Francisco in control, 25-19, at the 8:36 mark.
Widening the gap with a triple of his own, Williams connected from beyond-the-arc at 6:20 to put the Dons up by nine, 30-21.
Closing out the first twenty minutes of action by pushing their lead to fifteen, Robby Beasley cashed in on his first three of the game on an assist from his brother Ryan Beasley at 1:28 to give USF a 43-28 advantage heading into the locker room.
Continuing their momentum out of the break, the green and gold would go on to net the first eight points of the second half to blow the game open. Thanks to a jumper in the paint from Robby Beasley at 15:25, San Francisco grew their lead to 25 points, 53-28.
Firing on all cylinders offensively, five straight points from Malik Thomas near the 12-minute mark made it a 33-point contest, 65-32.
Not going down without a fight, LMU rallied back to whittle their deficit down to as little as 21 points as a three-pointer from Will Johnston at 7:50 made it 68-47 in favor of USF. With 6:23 remaining in regulation, Mogbo rocked the rim for a dunk to push USF's lead back up to 26 points, 73-47.
Securing their fifth road conference win of the season, San Francisco went on to take down LMU by a final score of 82-59 on Saturday night.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

Bouncing back in a big way for the green and gold, Newbury tallied 16 points on 6-of-10 from the field and 3-of-5 from deep while also adding 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.
Registering his 14^th double-double of the season, Mogbo finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assist and 1 steal on 5-of-10 from the floor.
Serving as a catalyst for the offense, Williams poured in 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-2 from beyond-the-arc. Additionally, the guard added 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.
With the win, the Dons allowed their lowest point total in a conference game this season with 59 points. Overall, San Francisco led LMU in points in the paint (38-22), second chance points (14-8), bench points (26-6) and assists (19-8).

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

To view the full postgame interview with head coach Chris Gerlufsen, please click here.
To view the full postgame interview with Marcus Williams, please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco will have a quick turnaround as the Dons will head back to the Bay Area for a Tuesday night matchup at No. 18/19 Saint Mary's on Feb. 20. Tip-off from University Credit Union Pavilion is scheduled for 8:00 pm PST as Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham will have the call on ESPN2 while Pat Olson and Jim Brovelli will have the call on KNBR 1050. Live streaming, radio and live statistics links are available via the team's schedule page.

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.

MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today! Click here to purchase.

SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor - Nike - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.