Loyola Marymount Wins Opener, 83-70

It was the first game of the season for Loyola Marymount, but the deeper, more athletic Lions looked as if they were in midseason form against Monmouth.

Charles Brown scored 19 points and Loyola committed only seven turnovers in pulling away for an 83-70 victory Saturday over the Hawks before 1,381 at Gersten Pavilion.

Monmouth, an NCAA tournament participant last season, shot 52.2%. Its five players in double figures were led by Dejan Delic with 16 points and Blake Hamilton with 15. But the Lions often employed full-court traps on defense and pressured the Hawks into 22 turnovers, which they converted into 24 points.

“I think we’re going to create offense from our defense,” Loyola Coach Steve Aggers said. “When we got our spurts in the second half, it was from our defense.”

Brown made six of 11 shots and all six of his free throws with no turnovers in 26 minutes. Junior transfer Adoyah Evans-Miller had 14 points in his first game as a Lion, center Matthew Knight had 13 points and all 10 players scored.

Brown and Evans-Miller combined for 11 points in a 15-3 run at the start of the second half to push Loyola’s lead to 46-33. Evans-Miller’s three-pointer gave the Lions their biggest lead, 68-52, with 6:17 remaining.

“We are going to be a speed team this year,” Aggers said. “Our depth will be a component in that.”

-- Eric Stephens

Cal State Fullerton 75, Colgate 68 -- Bobby Brown scored 21 points and Jermaine Harper 15 for the Titans in the consolation game of the Mohegan Sun Classic in New Britain, Conn.

Hardy Asprilla added 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for the Titans (1-1), who twice led by as many as 13 points in the first half. Jon Simon scored 24 points for Colgate (0-2).

Oklahoma 82, Cal State Northridge 72 -- Junior college transfer Taj Gray scored a game-high 29 points and had 14 rebounds at home for the Sooners (1-0).

Gray scored 22 of his points in the second half and Oklahoma recovered from a 12-point first-half deficit to win the first meeting between the schools.

Calvin Chitwood led Cal State Northridge (0-1) with 19 points.

Northern Arizona 78, UC Riverside 60 -- Ruben Boykin Jr. and Kyle Landry scored 16 points each in the Lumberjacks’ home victory.

Northern Arizona (2-1) had a 15-2 lead in the game’s first five minutes, making seven of eight shots and forcing seven Riverside turnovers.

The Highlanders (1-2) tied the score at 34-34 by halftime, but the game turned midway through the second half when Riverside’s David Jobe fouled Boykin. Boykin made both free throws and then scored again on the inbounds play as he was fouled by Jobe. Boykin made another free throw, giving the Lumberjacks a 54-47 lead with 11:30 left.