LOS ANGELES – Holding a slim two point lead, the University of San Francisco turned it over on their half of the court with less than nine seconds to play with LMU's best 3-point shooter getting a good look at the game winner.  But on Saturday night the ball bounced the Dons way when the shot rimmed out in the final seconds giving USF a69-67 win road win at Gersten Pavilion. 
 
USF (20-11, 9-7 WCC) secured the fifth seed and will play Friday at 6:00 p.m. at the WCC tournament.  They will play the winner of LMU vs. San Diego.
 
The Dons had four players in double figures and were led by Jordan Ratinho's season-high 17.  He was tremendous going 6-for-14 from the floor and 3-for-8 from beyond the arc. It was his sixth game with three or more three point field goals, the Dons are 6-0 in those contests.
 
Joining Ratinho in double digits was Khalil Shabazz (16), Jamaree Bouyea (12), and Jimbo Lull (10).  Shabazz and Bouyea scored a combined 20 of their 28 after the intermission.  On the glass, USF outrebounded the Lions 30-28.  The Dons were particularly sharp on the offensive glass, grabbing 11 offensive boards and turning them into 16 points.
 
LMU (10-20/4-12 WCC) had two players in double figures. Jordan Bell scored a game-high 25 points going 11-for-17 from the field.  He was joined by Keli Leaupepe who had 16.  USF did a fantastic job defensively on Eli Scott, the Lions leading scorer, who finished with four points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• LMU took an early 21-10 lead thanks to a 14-2 run midway through the first half.  USF responded by getting the ball inside to Lull who scored six points early and keyed an 8-0 run by USF that cut the deficit to five.
 
• With 4:34 in the first half, Jordan Ratinho took a pass from Lull and hit a triple at the top of the arc to give USF the 24-23 lead.  From there the two sides played back and forth basketball, the half featured eight lead changes and two ties.  The final lead change occurred with less than 10 seconds remaining when Lull got an up and under layup to give USF a 31-30 advantage.
 
• USF shot 41.9 percent from the field in the opening period, going 13-for-31 from the field.  USF started the game very slowly but started to get warm down the stretch.  LMU outshot the Dons shooting 54.2 percent from the field – but turnovers proved to be the difference, the Lions had nine turnover that USF converted into 11 points.
 
•In the second half, the Lions increased the physicality and thanks to a 7-0 gave the Lions a lead.  But USF responded.  Ratinho got the Dons going with seven points early in the half, the last a layup and the foul that gave USF a 44-43 lead with under 14 to play.
 
• With under six to play the Dons led by eight.  LMU went into a full court press that USF broke easily leading to a wide open dunk for Lull giving USF a 61-51 lead – they pushed it to 11, largest of the night. The Lions responded with a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to two. 
 
• With under 10 seconds left in the contest, USF was set to inbound the ball.  An errant cross court pass in an attempt to break the press was intercepted by LMU's Leaupepe who found Johansson wide open at the top of the arc.  But the three point attempt as the clock expired rimmed out.
 
NOTABLE NUMBERS
4: Head coach Todd Golden becomes the fourth head coach in USF history to win 20 or more games in his first year on the Hilltop.  He joins Kyle Smith, Pete Barry, and Dan Belluomini as the other coaches to do it.  All three coaches advanced to a post season tournament.
9: With the win, USF has won at least nine games in WCC play for the fourth-straight year.  The Dons have posted a .500 or better record in each of the last four seasons, the longest stretch since USF did it six times from 1976-77 to 1981-82.
83:  Seniors Jimbo Lull, Remu Raitanen, and Jordan Ratinho have become the first senior class since prior to 1982 to win 20 games all four seasons.  With the WCC Tournament to play, the trio improve to 83-51.
 
NEXT UP
The Dons will head to Las Vegas for the annual West Coast Conference Championship.