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USF's Season Ends in Quarterfinals of Zappos.com WCC Tournament in Las Vegas
March 6, 2010
By Stacy Hicklin
USF Beat Writer
LAS VEGAS -- The season came to a sudden end for the University of San Francisco men's basketball team.
Loyola Marymount upset USF 84-76 in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Zappos.com West Coast Conference Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
"I don't think we played our best," USF coach Rex Walters said. "They were a little more aggressive in their will."
The game featured eight lead changes. The teams each led in the first half, but went into the halftime break tied at 38-38.
Early in the second half, the Dons (12-18) went on a 10-0 run to take a 50-44 lead with 15:26 to play. That lead disappeared within three minutes. Loyola Marymount (18-14) re-gained the lead with 11:28 remaining and never trailed again.
"We've struggled with teams with four options and Ashley [Hamilton] has been giving them another dimension," Walters said.
Four LMU players finished in double-digit scoring, led by 18 points from Drew Viney and Vernon Teel. Hamilton and Jarred DuBois added 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Each time USF came up with a play to change the momentum down the stretch, Loyola Marymount always found an answer. The Lions only missed one shot in the final four and a half minutes of the game, with Teel scoring eight of his team's 18 points during that stretch.
Perhaps Teel's biggest shot of the game came with 1:24 to go as the junior guard hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to push the Lions' lead to seven points.
USF pulled to within 80-76 with 18.6 seconds remaining, but couldn't close the gap any further.
The statistical categories were basically even with the exception of free throw shooting and fast break points. USF went just 17-for-29 from the line with Loyola Marymount going 20-for-25. The Lions also outscored the Dons 12-4 in fast-break opportunities.
Kwame Vaughn scored a game-high 20 points with Dior Lowhorn adding 18 points and nine rebounds. Bryant totaled 11 points, six assists and five rebounds.
"Our focus was to limit [Lowhorn's] touches," Loyola Marymount forward Ashley Hamilton said. "We wanted to deny passed into him."
Lowhorn, Bryant and Blake Wallace played in the final games of their careers for USF.
