Cameron Shelton scored a game-high 27 points, including a go-ahead bank shot with 14 seconds remaining, as Loyola Marymount snapped No. 6 Gonzaga’s 75-game home winning streak with a 68-67 decision Thursday night in Spokane, Wash.
The Lions’ Keli Leaupepe blocked Drew Timme’s driving layup in the final seconds and Julian Strawther’s off-balance 3-point attempt at the final buzzer came up short.
Jalin Anderson added 15 points and Leaupepe scored 11 for the Lions (14-7 overall, 4-3 West Coast Conference), who snapped a 25-game losing streak to the Bulldogs dating to Feb. 18, 2010.
Timme led Gonzaga (16-4, 5-1) with 17 points, scoring 15 of those in the second half. Nolan Hickman added 12 points and Rasir Bolton scored 10.
The Zags’ home winning streak was the longest in Division I men’s basketball since the NCAA Tournament expanded in 1985. Gonzaga also had won 93 in a row against unranked opponents, and it was riding an 11-game overall winning streak.
Gonzaga led by as many as eight points in the first half, 27-19 with 6:44 left before the intermission.
The Lions stayed close, though, with Justin Ahrens banking in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to pull Loyola Marymount within 33-32 at the half.
The Lions led by as many as nine points, 53-44, with 11:05 remaining.
Loyola Marymount took a 66-59 lead on Shelton’s step-back 3-pointer with 2:55 left.
But the Zags came back.
Timme made a put-back with 2:35 left, Hickman drained a 3-pointer with 1:58 remaining and a steal and dunk by Anton Watson capped a 7-0 run to tie it at 66-all with 1:27 to go.
Timme made one of two free throws with 43 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Shelton.
The Zags, who led the Division I in both scoring (86.9 points per game) and shooting percentage (51.7 percent), were limited to 44.4 percent shooting, 24 of 54. The Lions made 47.4 percent of their field-goal attempts, 27 of 57.
–Field Level Media