Loyola Marymount exacted revenge on the Portland Pilots in the WCC Tournament to survive and advance to the quarterfinal round. The Pilots, who swept Loyola Marymount in the regular season, were in it until the end, but couldn't get over the hump in a 72-68 win.
Portland got within two with under 15 seconds to go, but the Lions broke the press for an easy lay-in to seal the game and a four-point win. Drew Viney, keyed the offense for the Lions on the night, and found Larry Davis with a superb pass that traveled about 90 feet to sink Portland's hope with time winding down in the second half.
Davis scored 25 points, grabbed five rebounds and had two assists, one of which came on that long pass, to lead all scorers in the win. Vernon Teel added 13 points off the bench and Anthony Ireland finished with 12. Davis had nine points, including the final bucket of the game. Godwin Okonji had a game-high 13 rebounds and Teel had five assists for the Lions.
Jared Stohl finished with a team-high 23 points for Portland. Nemanja Mitrovic was the only other player in double-figures for the Pilots with 14 points. Luke Sikma had a quiet night, missing his only field goal attempt and finishing with six points and eight rebounds in 37 minutes. Ryan Nicholas had seven points off the bench.
Loyola Marymount, the eighth-seed in the tournament, moves on to face Santa Clara on Saturday night at 6 p.m. For more on the tournament, check out the rest of our WCC Tournament StoryStream. For more coverage, check out SB Nation Bay Area's StoryStream.