Box Score Los Angeles, CA—Taylor Johns posted a 24-point, 17-rebound double-double Sunday afternoon at LMU, helping the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team build a seven point lead with 12:57 remaining. But the Lions went on a 15-1 run to take the lead, and held on for the 77-76 win.

A Malik Thames jumper with 7:03 gone in the second put UCR up, 58-51. That is when the UC Riverside offense went cold as the Lions scored 15 of the next 16 points.

The run served as a microcosm of the Lions' offense on the day as four different players got into the act led by Steven Haney's six points. He was one of six LMU players to reach double figures in scoring. A free throw by Munis Tutu gave the Lions their first lead of the second half.

The Highlanders struggles from the field continued as their next five points came at the free throw line. It wasn't until a Jaylen Bland three pointer with 5:17 on the clock that UCR connected on its next made field goal.

That made it a three-point LMU lead, and a pair of Taylor Johns free throws on the team's next offensive possession sliced it to one. Johns hit a jumper the next time down the floor for UCR to put the Highlanders back on top.

The lead changed hands three more times over the final 3:14, and the Highlanders tried make it four following a defensive stop with 32 seconds left. Bland's three-pointer as the clock ran down was off the mark, however, and the Lions escaped with the one-point win.

The Highlanders led by as many as ten in the first half, thanks to a lights-out offensive performance in the early going. LMU matched them shot for shot, though, as UC Riverside connected on 57.7 percent of ots shots in the first 20 minutes, and the Lions made 50.0-percent of theirs. That hot shooting extended to the three-point line where UC Riverside made seven of 14 and LMU hit five of 13.

Both team's offensive fortunes changed in the second half with the Highlanders making 25.8 percent of their shots including two for 12 from beyond the arc. The Lions were slightly better at 35,5 percent from the field.

Johns 17 rebounds tied a career high and are the second highest in the Division I history of the program. Three other members of the Highlanders scored in double figures—Jaylen Bland and Secean Johnson with 17 each and Thames with 11.

UC Riverside is off for most of this week as they take final exams, but the Highlanders return to action on Saturday, December 12 to take on UNLV at the SRC Arena beginning at 4 pm PT.