Nov. 15, 2002

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QUICKLY
A young Loyola Marymount University men's basketball squad made a successful debut in its first exhibition of the season, defeating EA Sports West All Stars 74-72 at Gersten Pavilion on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The Lions will play their second "warm-up" when they take on Team Ezybonds from Australia on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 2:05 p.m. It will be the final exhibition of the season before they host Loyola of Chicago in the season opener at Gersten Pavilion on Friday, Nov. 22 at 7:05 p.m.

LIONS LIVE
TV: None
Radio: KXLU 88.9 FM (Jeff Lampe, play-by-play; Ryan McGrady, color) Internet Audio: LMULions.com
LiveStats: FANSLive Gametracker - On game day follow each second of the game on one of LMULions.com newest features, FANSLive Gametracker. This feature is an interactive way to watch the game when you can't be at Gersten Pavilion. The day of the game click on LionsLive.

SCOUTING EA SPORTS
Team Ezybonds from Australia will finish the 2002 exhibition season playing eight games in the western United States, including a tour of southern California that started with an 87-79 win over UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday, Nov. 12. The game against the Lions will be Ezybonds third straight, as they lost to Pepperdine 89-84 on Thursday and will take on UC Irvine Friday. The team started their tour with a 3-2 record, defeating San Jose State (98-82), CS Stanislaus (86-81) and UC Santa Barbara (87-79), while falling to Pacific (86-80). Through the first four games Thalo Green has been a force. The 6-7 center has scored an average of 21.5 points per game while grabbing over six rebounds a contest. He led the team with 28 in the win over UCSB. Former Santa Clara Bronco Jamie Holmes is second on the team with 14 points per game.

OPENING NIGHT
The Lions opened the 2002-03 season with a 15 player roster that has a combined 11 seasons of college experience. The youthful Lions passed the first of many tests to come this season when they came from behind and then held on to defeat a tough EA Sports West All Stars squad, 74-72 on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The Lions trailed by as many as seven points in the second half but took the lead for good with 3:19 remaining when sophomore Andy Osborn hit a three-pointer to give LMU a 69-67 margin. "It was a great experience for our young team to win a close game and learn how to come from behind," said Head Coach Steve Aggers, in his third season at the helm of the Lions. "It was a good team win. We got to look at a lot of players." All told 11 players earned minutes for the Lions. Osborn was one of four players in double-digit scoring, leading the Lions with 15 points, hitting on 5-of-10 from the field including 3-of-6 from the three-point line. Sophomore Charles Brown had 12 points, hitting 4-of-4 from the three-point line. He added six rebounds and five assists on the night. Junior Sherman Gay added 10 points and four rebounds, while freshman Brandon Worthy had 12 points, including a key free throw to give LMU a four-point lead, 73-69 with six seconds remaining. "With such a young team you expect a little slippage, but we played through those and found a way to win at the end," said Aggers. "Our depth really helped us. We were behind most of the second half but came back with a strong defensive effort."

ROUND THE CORNER
The young Lions will get thrown into the fire rather quickly as the 2002-03 regular season schedule is once again solid top to bottom. The Lions will begin the regular campaign when Loyola Chicago comes to Gersten Pavilion on Friday, Nov. 22. The Ramblers were 3.6 seconds away from the NCAA Tournament in 2001-02, losing the Horizon Conference championships in overtime to Illinois-Chicago. The Ramblers are one of 12 possible opponents for the 2002-03 Lions that finished in the top two of their conference or advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Following the Lions consecutive home game against Sacramento State on Nov. 25, the Lions will leave the next day to participate in the nationally-renown Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout, opening up against Villanova on Thanksgiving Day.

THE COACH
Head Coach Steve Aggers enters his third season at Loyola Marymount University. In his 29th year of collegiate coaching and 23rd as a head coach, Aggers has an all-time record of 332-309. His efforts to "Restore the Roar" within the program have already been felt. In two seasons he has graduated all eight seniors and had two players elected to the West Coast Conference all-academic team for the first time in five seasons. In his tenure, the Lions had their largest average attendance in over a decade, increasing attendance over 70 percent. In the middle of last season, the Lions posted an RPI ranking of #76, it highest ranking in nine seasons. Aggers came to LMU after a phenomenal five-year run at Eastern Washington. He guided the Eagles to its first Big Sky Conference crown in school history in 1999-00. He was named Big Sky Coach of the Year twice and earned the prestigious National Association of Basketball Coaches District 13 Coach of the Year.