QUICKLY
The Lions will be glad to be back home after their first of two four-game road trips of the 2000-01 season. It will be LMU's first home contest since their 87-64 win over Vanguard in the season opener on Nov. 17. The Lions will welcome Cal State Fullerton to Gersten Pavilion on Dec. 5 before heading out to a one game road stint to Sacramento State on Dec. 9. The Lions have a 12-9 record when returning home following a two-game road trip and are 6-1 following a road trip of three or more games in the last five seasons.

GAME #6 - Cal State Fullerton
Cal State Fullerton enters Gersten Pavilion on Nov. 17 for a 7:30 p.m. start. Fullerton is led by first year head coach Donny Daniels, who comes from the University of Utah where he was an assistant and is a graduate of Fullerton. It has been a tough start for the Titans, having a road trip to Oregon State and UC Riverside and a home stand against Pepperdine in beginning the 2000-01 campaign 0-3. They picked up a 79-64 win over College of Notre Dame at home on Dec. 2 to improve to 1-3 on the season heading into Gersten Pavilion. Fifth year senior Ike Harmon, who has become the leader of the Titans in the past four seasons, came back after a stress fracture to score 28 on Dec. 2 and is averaging 15 points in two games. The Titans leading returning scorer senior Matt Caldwell, who averaged 12.7 points last year, is averaging 6.8 points and 3.8 rebounds this season. In head-to-head competition, the Titans lead the season 12-8 and are 4-1 in Gersten Pavilion.

PREVIOUS
GAME #5 - LMU at Idaho State
As the Loyola Marymount men's basketball team wrapped up a four-game road trip, one thing has been solidified--they are going to have to fight for a win on the road. The Lions fell 71-68 to Idaho State in Pocatello, Idaho, on Saturday night, having every opportunity to pull out the win. The Lions had their shots, holding a one-point lead at half, building a 12-point lead halfway through the second half, out rebounding the Bengals 42-24, and holding a two-point lead with 2:47 remaining. It still wasn't enough, as the Lions, who shot 57 percent (16-28) in the first half, went ice cold in the second, shooting only 33 percent (12-36), including five straight misses in the final possession in an attempt to tie the game at 71. They finished the game hitting 43 percent (28-64). It was a back-and-forth ball game with nine lead changes and four ties. The Lions, holding a size advantage down in the blocks, fouled out the Bengals only two big men in Rashad Kirkland and J.T. Nelson. With ISU's smaller line-up, the Lions scored 42 points in the paint and had 22 second chance points thanks to 19 offensive rebounds. Senior Pablo Machado led the Lions on the boards with eight total rebounds, six on the offensive glass. He finished with 14 points. Coming off the bench in the post was Greg Lakey, who had six rebounds and 15 points, hitting six-of-12 from the field. The Lions also got 15 points and seven rebounds from junior Robert Davis. However, it was the hot shooting of Jordie McTavish for the Bengals that pust ISU ahead. The senior for Idaho State had 26 points, including 16 in the second half. Known for his three-point shooting, McTavish was three-of-13 for the game. It was his foul shooting that did the Lions in, as he finished nine-of-10 from the line. Point guard Eurskine Robinson, who fouled out 30 seconds was kept out with four fouls for the majority of the second half. Idaho State finished the game 21-of-26 from the line, while the Lions hit 10-of-15. Also looming large for the Lions was the Bengals 12-to-3 advantage on steals and the Lions 16-to-10 turnover margin.

GAME #4 - LMU at Colorado
Entering their game against the University of Colorado, the Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team knew they could steal one on the road if they stayed with their game plan and controlled the tempo of the game. They did, but for only 30 of the 40 minute game. The 10 minutes proved disastrous, as the Lions dropped a heartbreaking 94-79 loss to the Buffaloes on Tuesday night in Boulder, Colo. The Lions jumped out to an 11-point lead in the first half and controlled the tempo in leading for all but the final seconds of the first stanza. The Lions saw the Buffs D.J. Harrison hit a 10-footer with no time left to give the Buffs the one point lead, 33-32. The Buffs never looked back, scoring 21 straight in a five-minute span in the second half to put the game out of reach. Offensively, the Lions were led by junior Robert Davis' hot shooting in the first, as he hit 4-of-5 from the three-point line and finished hitting 5-of-6 for 14 points to lead the Lions into halftime. Senior Elton Mashack added seven as the Lions hit 12-of-18 from the field (67 percent). In contrast, they held the Buffs to 44 percent (13-of-29) from the field. The Buffs would finish the game hitting 51 percent, thanks to the hot shooting of Nick Mohr, who came off the bench to score all of his 20 points in the second. He finished 5-of-8 from the three-point line and 6-of-12 from the field for the game. Mohr hit 14 straight points for the Buffs in CU's run in the second. Despite the Lions hot first half shooting, they only hit 3-of-9 from the free throw line and were out rebound 20-11 in the first. The second half was improved, as they made the Buffs pay with aggressive play, hitting 20-of-26 from the charity stripe, finishing 24-35 (66 percent) for the game. Junior Greg Lakey's 9-of-10 effort led the Lions from the line. Lakey led the Lions with 20 points, 16 in the second half. It was a career high for the transfer from USC. Senior Pablo Machado finished with 16 points and five rebounds and Mashack finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

COACHES' COMMENTS
...on improvement... We continue to improve. We have to continue to learn how to play within the system and play as a team. We have stressed all season and will continue to build this program on the concept of Team First.'

...fouls and defense... Fouls continue to effect our style of play. When we get into early foul trouble, we have to adjust our defensive play that may effect our aggressiveness. We have to continue to work on playing solid team defense that keeps the fouls to a minimum.

...getting to the line... We did a good job in getting to the line against Colorado. However, we have to continue to play aggressive offense and create opportunities at the foul line.

Hard Court Notes

BALANCED DIET
The Lions have thrown a balanced diet of scoring at opponents this season, having four players average double figures in scoring. Junior Robert Davis leads the team with a 14.2 per game average. He is followed by senior Pablo Machado with 13.2, junior Greg Lakey with 11.8 and senior Elton Mashack with 11.4. The Lions have had four games already this season in which three or more players scored in double figures. UC Irvine is the only game in the early season that only two players were in double figures. The latest was in Pocatello, Idaho, in which Lakey (15), Davis (15) and Machado (14) were in double figures.

MORE SHOOTING
Against Vanguard the Lions didn't get off to a bad start, finishing the game hitting 59 percent of their shots. It was the first game since hitting 37-of-58 (.638) in a 101-87 win over St. Mary's on January 29, 1999, the Lions finished a regular season game hitting more than 50 percent of their field goals. In the 87-64 win over Vanguard, the Lions hit 70 percent in the first half, including 4-of-7 from the three point line. On the season, the Lions have finished two games hitting more than 50 percent of their shots, hitting 55 percent against Colorado. It was the first time the Lions have dropped a game hitting more than half their shots in a game since falling to Boise State on Nov. 21, 1998, when the Lions hit 25-of-44 in a 93-86 loss in Gersten Pavilion. The Lions have shot better than 50 percent in six of the 10 halves they have played this season. In the 1999-00 season the Lions did not have a game shooting over 50 percent and finished the season hitting 36 percent. Through the Idaho State game, the Lions have improved more than 12 percent compared to last season.

TEAM LEADERS
The Lions shooting is putting them towards the top of the conference standings in shooting as they sit third in field goal percentage, hitting 48 percent of their shots. Here is the list:

Field Goal Percentage
Team G FG FGA Pct
1. Gonzaga 5 154 272 .566
2. San Diego 6 146 297 .492
3. Loyola Marymount 5 133 274 .485
4. San Francisco 7 148 331 .447
5. Pepperdine 5 131 300 .437
6. Portland 5 117 263 .445
7. Santa Clara 7 164 398 .412
8. Saint Mary's 5 110 309 .356

SENIOR LEADER
Senior Elton Mashack is the team captain of the Lions and is expected to be the leader of the team this season. As the season progresses, he might be one of the all-time leaders at LMU. With 811 points and 375 rebounds in three years at Loyola Marymount, Mashack could join an elite list of only 10 players that have accomplished the feat of scoring 1,000 points and grabbing 500 rebounds in a career. He has 57 points and 37 rebounds on the season, giving him 868 points and 412 rebounds in his career at LMU.

The List
Rk-Name Points Avg. Reb. Avg.
1. Hank Gathers (1987-90) 2490 28.0 985 11.1
2. Forrest McKenzie (1981-86) 2060 18.7 723 6.6
3. Jim Haderlein (1968-71) 1706 22.4 1143 15.3
4. Mike Yoest (1984-88) 1601 13.7 707 6.0
5. Ed Bento (1959-62) 1432 18.6 774 10.1
6. Greg Hunter (1975-79) 1289 12.6 681 6.7
7. Dick Schiendler (1962-65) 1147 14.9 565 7.3
8. Steve Smith (1971-73) 1109 21.7 714 14.0
9. Brad Dean (1972-75) 1069 13.5 722 9.2
10. Dave Benaderet (1954-57) 1067 14.4 512 6.9

MORE FOR MASHACK
Mashack, who has 11 double-doubles in his previous three years at Loyola Marymount, earned an unofficial one in the final exhibition game of his career and the Lion's 2000-01 season. In the 99-71 win over Son's Blue Angels, the forward scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds. The double-double record of 66 by Jim Haderlein is far from attainable for Mashack. He just missed a double-double against USC with 15 points and eight boards.

Mashack's Double-Double List:
Game Pts Rebs
11-17-98 vs Long Beach State 14 10
12-2-98 vs Cal State Fullerton 18 10
12-9-98 at USC 10 15
1-2-99 vs California Baptist 22 11
1-15-99 vs San Francisco 17 11
1-21-99 at Saint Mary's 14 10
2-3-99 vs Pepperdine 12 10
12-18-99 at Long Beach State 19 11
12-21-99 vs Dartmouth 12 11
1-29-00 vs San Francisco 17 11
2-24-00 at Saint Mary's 12 14

MAKE THAT A DOUBLE
After seeing his first action in over a year since transferring to LMU from USC a year ago, junior Greg Lakey earned his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the Lions 87-64 win over Vanguard. Following that game, Lakey has continued to shine for the Lions. So far this season, Lakey is averaging 11.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He has led the team in scoring against Colorado and Idaho State with 20 and 15 points, respectively. He currently sits third on the team in scoring and second in rebounds. In the West Coast Conference he ranks 14th in scoring and eighth in rebounding. He is also one of the best in shooting percentage, hitting 55 percent (21-38) of his shots, good for eighth in the league. As a junior, Lakey has begun to take some of the leadership on the floor for the Lions, as he and senior Pablo Machado will get the majority of the playing time at the center position for the smaller LMU line-up. The leadership is no surprise for Lakey, who has a son, Tahj. Lakey averaged 5.1 points per game in two seasons with USC, earning 19 starts his freshman season in 1997-98.

ON THE BOARDS
Despite the smaller line-up of the Lions, who have only two players over 6-8, they hold a +4.4 edge on the boards after five games of the 2000-01 season, thanks in part to a +18 rebounding effort against Idaho State. The Lions, who are ranked third in rebound margin, out rebounded the Bengals 42-24, including 19 offensive rebounds. LMU has out rebounded their opponents in three of its first five games. The first two games saw the Lions dominate the glass, out rebounding a much taller UC Irvine squad, who features two 7-footers, 38-35 and Vanguard 37-24. It took the 15th ranked team in the nation to out-do the Lions. In the 1999-00 season, the Lions had only seven games in which they out rebounded an opponent. On the season, the Lions are led by senior Elton Mashack with a total of 37 boards in three games. His total includes 16 offensive and 21 defensive, for an average of 7.4 rebounds per game. He ranks fourth in the conference in that category.

WELCOME BACK
Loyola Marymount welcomed back the services of junior Robert Davis. The 6-2 guard from Tempe, Ariz., began his collegiate career at LMU in 1998-99 where he averaged 7.1 points and 2.3 rebounds a game as a true freshman. Last year Davis transferred to Chandler Gilbert Junior College where he led the conference with 26.2 points per game. In his first game back at LMU, Davis managed 11 points for the Lions, including two three pointers. After five games he leads the team with a 14.2 ppg average, including a season high 21 points in the loss to USC. He currently sits tied for ninth in the West Coast Conference in scoring. Davis enjoys playing the powers of Southern California, as his previous high of 17 came against UCLA in his freshman season on Dec. 29, 1998. Davis is also averaging 3.0 rebounds per game and has 12 assists and four steals. More leading stats - he leads the team with 11 three-pointers in 26 attempts (.423) and is shooting 53 percent from the field (27-51). In the conference, he is ranked seventh in three-point field goal percentage and fifth in three-pointers made

IN THE MIDDLE
Senior center Pablo Machado enters his fourth and final season of collegiate basketball. Prior to transferring from Georgia Tech two years ago to LMU, Machado was one of the top-rated high school players in the nation coming out of Tift County High School in 1996. At 6-10, Machado was named Mr. Basketball in Georgia by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Hoping to return to his high school stats, where he averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds, Machado had a solid start with 19 points and seven rebounds vs. Vanguard. Although hampered by four fouls most of the second half, Machado had his way with the smaller line-up of Vanguard. He has begun to lift up his game, as the Venezula native is second on the team with 13.2 points per game and is third with 5.4 rebounds per game. His 3.2 offensive rebounds per game is tied with teammate Elton Mashack for the league lead and he sits at 12th in the conference in scoring.

TEAM IS FIRST
Junior Eurskine Robinson will be the key at the point for the Lions this season. Robinson, who transferred from College of the Canyons, earned the starting nod and delivered for the Lions, averaging the second most minutes of any Lion with a 30.2 per game average. He has delivered with a team high 19 assists on the season, which is good for eighth in the WCC. Robinson broke College of the Canyons' career assist record with 421. As a team, the Lions have been dishing out 16.4 assists per game, second in the WCC. Four players are already in double figures for assists this season. Putting it in perspective, the Lions averaged a league low 11.3 assists a game in 1999-00. LMU finished the game against Vanguard with 21 assists, the highest assist total for the Lions since they had 25 against St. Mary's on Jan. 29, 1999 in a 101-87 win. The Lions also have junior Philipp Czernin on the top 10 list in the West Coast Conference. He sits at ninth with 2.6 per game. Only Gonzaga and LMU have more than one player on the top 10 assist list.

CONFERENCE LEADERS
Here is where the Lions rank in conference stats as a team: Category Rank Statistic
Scoring Offense 3rd 71.8 ppg
Scoring Margin 7th -4.6
FG Percentage 3rd .485
3pt FG Percentage 3rd .357
Rebounding Off. 5th 35.2 rebounds per game
Rebounding Margin 3rd +4.4
Scoring Defense 7th 76.4 ppg
FT Percentage 6th .648
FG Pct. Defense 6th .461
3pt FG Pct. Def. 8th .398
Rebounding Def. 3rd 30.8
Blocked Shots t7th 1.6 blocks per game
Assists 2nd 16.4 assists per game
Turnover Margin 7th -4.00
Offensive Rebounds 3rd 12.8
3pt FG Made 6th 5.00
Steals 8th 4.40 steals per game
Asst/TO Ratio 3rd 0.96
Defensive Rebounds t5th 22.40

ON THE RADIO
All LMU men's basketball games will be broadcast live on KXLU Radio FM 88.9. Check-out all the action as Jeff Janssens and Pat Graham will call the action. Coverage will begin five minutes prior to tip-off and following the game will include the Steve Aggers' Postgame Show. The station, which is a part of the LMU campus, is a learning opportunity of Loyola Marymount University and is operated by the students.