Brown couldn’t extend its historic 2018-19 season with another win at Loyola Marymount, fading quickly in the second half en route to an 81-63 defeat in Los Angeles.
The loss dropped the Bears to 20-12 on the season, after Bruno already set a single-season record for wins and won a postseason tournament game for the first time in school history by topping UAB at the Pizzitola Sports Center Wednesday.
Brown did itself in by committing 20 turnovers, and the Lions (22-11) of the West Coast Conference outscored the Bears 35-8 in points off turnovers, easily the stat of the game.
The visitors trailed 44-37 at halftime and last led 34-33 with 4:28 to play in the first half. The game was well in hand for Loyola Marymount down the stretch.
In his final game for the Bears, senior guard and Ivy Defensive Player of the Year Obi Okolie led the team with 14 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Also in his final collegiate game, fellow senior guard Chris Sullivan added 11 points in 25 minutes.
Loyola Marymount senior guard James Batemon notched a game-high 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting, including 4-for-8 from deep.
This was Brown’s second postseason appearance in seven seasons under coach Mike Martin, the first coming in 2014 when the Bears lost to Holy Cross at the Pizzitola Sports Center in the first round of the CIT. Brown’s only other CBI appearance came in 2008 and resulted in a first-round loss to Ohio.
There are now no more Ivy men’s or women’s teams competing in postseason play.