LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball had three scorers reach at least 16 points and needed every single one of them down the stretch as they held off a furious comeback attempt against LMU to win 84-80 on Thursday evening. 

PJ Pipes scored 19 points while Josip Vrankic finished with 18 points and six rebounds and Keshawn Justice knocked down four triples en route to 16 points. Jalen Williams chipped in 11 points, all in the second half, as the Broncos improved to 18-9, 8-4. 

The Broncos got off to a great start in the opening half, scoring the first seven points. LMU figured things out quickly though and scored nine-straight of their own to gain the lead. After some back and forth play, the Lions were able to push their lead to as much as eight at 30-22 at the under-four timeout. Santa Clara came out of that timeout with a purpose, finishing the half on a 13-4 run to take a narrow 35-34 lead into the locker room. Justice knocked down back-to-back triples in the sequence and finished with three total in the period to tie Vrankic for the team lead of 11 points. 

Out of the locker room with some momentum on their side, the Broncos quickly took control with PJ Pipes knocking down an early triple to spark a 14-2 run. The Santa Clara lead grew to as much as 13 with 13 minutes left before the Lions began to claw their way back in. The lead was chipped down to just four with 5:27 remaining, but the Broncos quickly pushed it back to a 10-point lead inside the final media timeout at 74-64. 

Things got interesting once again in the waning moments as the Broncos saw their lead, once again, shrink to just four points. Pipes knocked down a clutch mid-range jumper with 45 seconds left, but the Lions answered on the other end with a field goal and two free throws from Jalin Anderson to make it 78-76 with 35 seconds remaining. Williams knocked down two free throws and made a critical steal inside the final 20 seconds to give the Broncos some breathing room, and Santa Clara was able to knock down four more free throws inside the final 12 seconds to secure the victory. 

Santa Clara finished with a 53.6 shooting clip withe eight 3-pointers. LMU shot 46.4 percent with Eli Scott finishing with a game-high 30 points. 

NOTES

• Josip Vrankic extended his streak of consecutive games with at least 13 points to nine. 
• Vrankic moved up to sixth on the school's all-time scoring list. 
• Santa Clara had four players score in double figures for the 17th time this season.

POSTGAME VIDEO

NEXT UP

• The Broncos will stay out on the road for the second-straight game with a meeting against No. 1 Gonzaga in Spokane on Saturday. 

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