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Loyola Marymount ends No. 6 Gonzaga’s 75-game home streak

Loyola Marymount guard Cam Shelton shoots while defended by Gonzaga guard Nolan Hickman.
Loyola Marymount guard Cam Shelton, center, shoots while defended by Gonzaga guard Nolan Hickman, right, during the second half on Thursday in Spokane, Wash. Loyola Marymount won 68-67.
(Young Kwak / Associated Press)
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Cam Shelton banked in a go-ahead runner with 13 seconds left and Loyola Marymount ended No. 6 Gonzaga’s 75-game home winning streak with a 68-67 victory on Thursday night.

The home streak for the Bulldogs (16-4, 5-1 West Coast Conference) was tied with Long Beach State (1968-74) for the eighth-longest in Division I history.

Shelton scored 27 points to lead the Lions (14-7, 4-3), who hadn’t won in Spokane since 1991 and had lost 25 straight overall to the Bulldogs.

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Gonzaga had won 93 straight games against unranked opponents with 69 of those coming at home, and had won its previous 116 WCC games against teams other than Saint Mary’s and Brigham Young.

Gonzaga’s streak of 36 straight wins in the month of January also ended. Coach Mark Few’s Bulldogs had won 11 straight overall, the fourth-best streak in the country, since losing 64-63 to Baylor on Dec. 2.

Jalin Anderson added 15 points and Keli Leaupepe had 11 for the Lions. Loyola Marymount led by as many as nine in the second half and held off Gonzaga’s late run.

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Drew Peterson scored 15 points and Boogie Ellis added 11, but USC struggled from the start to keep up with No. 11 Arizona in the 81-66 loss on Thursday.

LMU led 66-59 with 2:55 left after Shelton’s three-pointer, but the Zags scored the next eight points to take a 67-66 lead on Drew Timme’s free throw with 41 seconds left. With the shot clock running down, Shelton converted a runner from just outside the lane to give the Lions the lead, and Timme’s last attempt at a winner was partly blocked by Leaupepe.

Timme led the Zags with 17 points. Nolan Hickman chipped in 12 points and six assists for the Zags, who were coming off a 115-75 win over Portland on Saturday.

Gonzaga struggled from the field, shooting 44.4% overall and going four of 14 (28.6%) from three-point range and 15 of 23 (65.2%) from the free-throw line.

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