Loyola defeats Mercer on road

Marko Deric’s three-point shot with 30 seconds left in overtime gave Loyola Marymount a lead it never relinquished in a 97-92 victory over Mercer on Saturday at Macon, Ga.

Deric’s basket made it 93-91 and the Lions (2-4) stretched the lead to 95-91 before Mercer (1-4) got its final point on a free throw by Mark Hall with 18 seconds left.

Orlando Johnson led Loyola Marymount with 21 points and nine rebounds, Jon Ziri and Quentin Turner each had 15 points and Deric finished with 14.

Hall, who made 15 of 17 free throws, led the Bears with 30 points and Brian Pfohl had 19.

The Lions held 10-point leads several times in the first half, settling for a 47-41 lead at intermission. The Bears trailed, 81-79, in the final minute of regulation before Hall forced the overtime by making two free throws with 35 seconds to play.

Mercer has not won since beating USC, 96-81, on Nov. 10.

UC Riverside 56, Idaho 55 -- Severin Gates scored 18 points and made a running shot with 4.4 seconds left to lift the host Highlanders (1-4). Gates’ basket capped an 8-2 run and handed the Vandals (1-3) their third straight loss.

After trailing by 10 points midway through the second half, Riverside tied the score, 54-54, on a Gates jumper from the corner with 2:01 left. Trevor Morris made one of two free throws with 31 seconds left to put the Vandals back in front, setting up Gates’ game-winner.

Idaho got 10 points apiece from Jordan Brooks and Darin Nagle.

Sean Cunningham scored 11 for the Highlanders.

UC Santa Barbara 76, Montana State 61 -- Alex Harris scored 20 of his 29 points in the second half and James Powell had 15 points as the host Gauchos improved to 5-1.

Santa Barbara led, 55-53, with 8:58 to play but outscored the Bobcats, 21-8, the rest of the way to win its third straight.

Divaldo Mbunga had 17 points and nine rebounds for Montana State (2-3).

WOMEN

Georgia 59, USC 57 -- Tasha Humphrey had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and the No. 8 Bulldogs (6-0) held off the Trojans (2-2) to win the Junkanoo Jam’s Freeport Division championship at Freeport, Bahamas. Angel Robinson scored 15 points for Georgia, which rallied from a six-point halftime deficit and found itself trailing again with 7 1/2 minutes remaining.

Aarika Hughes had 13 points for USC (2-2), which shot 29% in the second half.

Camille LeNoir missed a three-point shot for the Trojans with three seconds left.