SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Taking care of business to begin conference play, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (11-3, 1-0 WCC) shined with a strong defensive performance on Saturday night as the Dons downed LMU (8-5, 0-1 WCC), 70-55, at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Getting things rolling with the first basket of the evening, Junjie Wang converted on his opening attempt as the forward knocked down a hook shot at 18:25 for the game's first points.
• After Wang nailed another shot at 17:13 for an early five points, San Francisco struggled to find the bottom of the net over the next six plus minutes as the Dons did not score again until a Malik Thomas three-pointer at 10:43. Remaining close using the strength of their defense, the green and gold trailed by just two, 10-8, after Thomas' triple.
• Keeping steady, back-to-back buckets from Wang and Marcus Williams helped USF stay within two points, 14-12, at 9:09.
• Following another scoreless stretch, this time from both teams, Ryan Beasley cashed in on a three-pointer at 6:32 to put San Francisco back on top, 15-14.
• Despite LMU fighting back to regain the lead, Beasley then finished off a three-point play with 4:36 left in the half to put the Dons in control, 20-18. Hitting their stride, a pair of three throws from Veniamin Abosi at 2:39 capped off a 10-0 run from the green and gold as USF led 26-18.
• Wrapping up the first twenty minutes of action, Malik Thomas dazzled by sinking a layup with just over two seconds left as San Francisco held a six-point advantage, 31-25, at the halftime break.
• Coming out of the locker room, LMU punched first as the Lions used a 9-0 run to take a 33-31 lead at 16:18. However, Thomas would respond in short order for the Dons as the guard buried another three at 15:45 to put the green and gold in front, 34-33.
• Continuing his streak as the half moved along, Thomas knocked down three straight free throws at 13:11 to push it to an eight-point game in favor of San Francisco, 41-33. With 11:04 remaining in regulation, a dunk from Tyrone Riley IV gave the Dons their first double-digit advantage of the night, 46-36.
• Maintaining this distance for the remainder of the contest, USF did not let LMU come closer than eight points for the rest of the night. Playing together as a unit in the final minutes, a tip-in basket from Carlton Linguard Jr. with 1:13 remaining gave San Francisco its largest lead of the game at 17 points, 68-51.
• Experiencing little resistance to close things out, San Francisco went on to secure a 70-55 victory over LMU to open West Coast Conference action.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Finishing in double figures for the twelfth time in fourteen games this season, Thomas was named Player of the Game after pouring in a game-high 19 points, which included going 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Additionally, the Fontana native added a season-high seven rebounds to go along with three assists and one steal in 30 total minutes.
• Alongside Thomas, Williams (16 points) and Wang (10 points) also finished in double figures. For Williams, Saturday night marked the third time this season the guard has knocked down four three-pointers.
• On the glass, four Dons grabbed at least seven rebounds, including a game and season-high nine rebounds from Linguard Jr. Notably, James O'Donnell was productive off the bench as the freshman tied his career-high with seven boards against LMU.
• As a team, San Francisco led LMU in points off turnovers (17-8) and second chance points (11-10) while holding the Lions to 15.8 percent (3-19) from beyond-the-arc.
• For Chris Gerlufsen, the third-year head coach remains undefeated against Stan Johnson and LMU with a 4-0 record following Saturday's victory.

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

• To view the full highlights of tonight's contest, please click here.
• To view the full postgame interview with head coach Chris Gerlufsen, James O'Donnell and Marcus Williams, please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco will remain at home on the Hilltop to begin next week as the Dons will welcome Bay Area rival Santa Clara to War Memorial at the Sobrato Center on Monday, Dec. 30. Tipoff is set for 7:00 pm as Chris Sylvester and Ben Braun will have the call on ESPN+ while Pat Olson and Jim Brovelli will have the call on KNBR 1050. Live streaming, radio, live statistics and ticket links are available via the team's schedule page.
 
FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.
 
MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today! Click here to purchase.
 
SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor - Corona - for their continued support of San Francisco Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.