San Francisco, CA – In their 160th match-up the Loyola Marymount Lions were looking to end their four-game WCC losing streak while San Francisco entered on a two-game winning streak.
The first half tempo was relatively slow with LMU owning the lead for 13:08 of the twenty minutes. Jordan Bell scored all of his six points in this half, while 6-8 sophomore Ivan Alipiev scored seven of his nine points in the first half off the bench to give LMU a 28-26 lead at the half.
USF outscored LMU in the second half 35-25, and shot a much higher percent in the 2nd half (55 percent vs. 41 percent) to pull off the 61-53 victory. The game had 11 lead changes, and one tie at 32- 32 early in the second half after USF’s 6-4 junior guard Charles Minlend converted 1 of 2 free throws. Minlend, who is the current WCC Player of the Week, played two complete halves. He ranks 7th in the conference in scoring, and finished the game with 19 points (7-10 FG, 3-5 3PT), three rebounds and two assists. The athletic, physical guard is tough attacking the rim. On two consecutive plays near the end of the game he scored on a drive and was fouled. Minlend also has the range as a shooter to knock down the three point shot.
Senior 6-5 guard Jordan Ratinho scored all of his eight points in the second half, including a three pointer at the 12:44 mark of regulation to become USF’s all time three-point field goal leader with 237. 6-2 junior guard Jamaree Bouyea is very athletic and quick. He scored 10 points (3-5FG, 1-3 3PT) and had three steals. In 17 minutes of play 6-9 Junior forward Taavi Jurkatamm had eight tough rebounds to go along with two assists and three blocks. Two of the blocks came in a crucial moment with under two minutes to play. His length and size were a factor on the floor.
LMU’s 6-6 junior skilled combo guard/forward Eli Scott ranks 5th in the WCC in scoring. He is a solid tank in the post area, capable of finishing with either hand in the paint, and has a nice touch from the free throw line. He finished the game with 17 points (7-17 FG) 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and three blocks. He played some point forward today. He’s not the fastest athlete on the floor, but he does understand how to use his physique to protect the ball as a slasher. He has a 1.56 assist/turnover ratio.
Key Game Stats
Assists: USF 15 – LMU 8
Fastbreak: USF 7 – LMU 2
Game FG%: USF 47% – LMU 38%
USF (14-6, 3-2), travels across the bridge to play St. Mary’s (16-4, 3-2) on January 23rd while LMU (7-12, 1-4), hosts the University of Portland (9-10, 1-3) also on January 23rd.
This article was written by Lorenzo Leaks, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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