On Thursday night, massive upsets in the WCC took place, and I’m not just talking about Gonzaga. Loyola Marymount hosted Santa Clara in a great matchup between two solid programs in the conference.
Santa Clara entered coming off a blowout win against rival USF, where they took them down by more than 20 points. They sat in third place entering the game, and looked like they still had a chance to make the March Madness.
Then came LMU, sitting at 1-4 in conference play. Despite the record, the Lions have looked solid in conference play, just getting unlucky playing all of the top teams in the conference to start the campaign. Their only win came against Oregon State, a team who was a top contender to win the WCC, but their hopes quickly vanished when coming to Los Angeles and losing by over 20 points to the Lions.
Entering the game, the Broncos were aware of what they were coming into, but had to find a way to stop it.
LMU started great early, leading for the majority of the first half, and even going on a run to bring the lead to 29-18 late in the half. However, a quick run the other way got the difference down to just three.
Basketball is a game of runs.
The Broncos started the second half strong, gaining the lead, but losing it around the 10 minute mark. The last few minutes went back and forth, with neither team gaining an edge, but finally the Lions took the lead by one with 44 seconds to go.
Adama Bal drove for the Broncos, but missed a layup, causing the Lions to get two more free throws, both of which were hit. Carlos Stewart Jr. was given a chance to make a play too, but missed a driving layup too.
On the other end Jevon Porter was blocked on a shot by Stewart Jr. and the Broncos had a chance to tie it!
Tyeree Bryan took a three with the chance to tie it, but missed. Thankfully for the Broncos, a rebound was kicked out to Stewart Jr., who had a 30-foot shot with a chance to tie it again, but missed as well.
LMU picked up another big win, 57-54.
The Lions top scorer was Caleb Stone-Carrawell, who put up 19 points and 4 rebounds. Outside of him, no other player had a great game, but Alex Merkviladze did have 8 and 7.
For the Broncos, Christoph Tilly had 25 points, leading the way. Outside of him, Adama Bal put up 14 points and 5 assists. No other player put up more than 5 points.
This was a huge game for WCC play overall. It creates an equilibrium through many teams, and makes the entire conference way more interesting.