Nov. 24, 2002
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The Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team had a solid debut to its 2002-03 season, defeating Loyola Chicago 85-79 in the season opener. With just 11 years of NCAA Division I experience among the 15 players, the Lions youth responded with a home win to improve to 3-0 in home openers under third-year Head Coach Steve Aggers. The Lions will be looking for their second straight when they host Sacramento State at Gersten Pavilion on Monday, Nov. 25 at 7:35 p.m.
A Quick Look
The Lions game against Sacramento State will be a part of doubleheader with the women's basketball team, who will start the action against UC Riverside at 5:00 p.m. The men's match-up will take place at 7:35 p.m. It is the first of five doubleheaders on the season. Both games can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM or through LionsLive on www.LMULions.com.
Game One
Loyola Marymount delivered with an 85-79 win in their debut over Loyola of Chicago at Gersten Pavilion on Friday night. The Lions fell down by as many as 10 points in the first half but showed the same resiliency they displayed in the two exhibition games. The game would enter the half tied at 41 and the Lions would fall behind by one point just twice in the second half to break a 12-game losing streak that dated back to January of the 2001-02 season. It was the season opener for both teams, as the Lions start 1-0 for the second time in three years under Head Coach Steve Aggers. "I have said it before, but it is going to be feast or famine to start this season," said Aggers. "We again showed great energy and found a way to win. We made some great plays but also made youthful mistakes. This team is going to go through some growing pains, but they are working to make this team better. I was pleased with how we competed to the end." Freshman Brandon Worthy led the Lions with 24 points, including a 10-for-11 effort from the free throw line. Worthy, who also led the team with six rebounds, broke the record for points in a freshman's first game, which was held by Ennoch Simmons with 20 in 1985. Sophomore Charles Brown added a career-high 15 and sophomore Kent Dennis had 10 to pace LMU.
11 to the Day
The 85-79 win over Loyola University Chicago was the Lions first season opening win against an NCAA Division I opponent since they defeated Morgan State 140-110 in the Los Angeles Classic on Nov. 22, 1991. The Lions improve to 2-1 in season openers and 3-0 in home openers under third-year Head Coach Steve Aggers. Here is a list of season openers since 1991:
Nov. 22, 2002 vs. Loyola Chicago W, 85-79
Nov. 13, 2001 vs. Samford* L, 72-60
Nov. 17, 2000 vs. Vanguard W, 87-64
Nov. 20, 1999 vs. Cal Baptist W, 78-74
Nov. 17, 1998 vs. Long Beach State L, 98-92
Nov. 15, 1997 at UNLV L, 96-81
Nov. 23, 1996 vs. Seattle Pacific W, 83-51
Nov. 24, 1995 vs. Sonoma State W, 85-66
Nov. 26, 1994 vs. CS Haywood W, 92-51
Nov. 27, 1993 at UCLA L, 115-77
Dec. 1, 1992 vs. College of Notre Dame W, 80-77
Nov. 22, 1991 vs. Morgan State W, 140-110
* Guardian's Classic
Going for Two
The Lions will be looking to start the season 2-0 for the first time since 1995-96 when they defeated Sonoma State and Seattle Pacific in November of 1995. With a win against Sacramento State, the Lions will post a 2-0 start over two Division I teams for the first time since the 1973-74 when they defeated UC Irvine 76-70 and Northern Arizona 78-63. Under coach Dave Benaderet, the Lions finished 13-14 and 6-8 in the West Coast Athletic Conference.
Making Their Mark
Freshmen Brandon Worthy and John Haywood didn't take long to etch their name in the LMU record books. Worthy's 24-point performance in the win against Loyola Chicago was the best first game for a freshman in program history. He replaced Ennoch Simmons, who had 20 points on Nov. 23, 1985 against Pacific. The point total is the fifth best in a season by a freshman, tying him with Ralim Harris (vs. USIU - Jan. 5, 1991), Ross Richardson (vs. USIU - Jan. 5, 1991) and Forrest McKenzie, who did it twice (vs. Santa Clara - Jan. 15, 1982; at Portland - Feb. 6, 1982). McKenzie holds the freshman record with 29 points against San Francisco on Jan. 16, 1982. Haywood jumped into the record books with his four assists, tying him with Stanley Thorne (vs, Cal Baptist - Nov. 20, 1999) for most assists in a freshman debut. Both Worthy, who added six rebounds, two steals and an assist, and Haywood, who had three points and three rebounds, came off the bench for the Lions. Of the six rebounds by Worthy, five were offensive. Freshman Chris Ayer also had a solid debut with nine points (all in the first half) and five rebounds.
Bench Marks
With the deepest bench in his three-year tenure at LMU, Head Coach Steve Aggers used 12 players in the Lions' season opener against Loyola Chicago. Sophomore Charles Brown played the most minutes with just 25. Eleven of the 12 that entered the game scored, including double figures by freshman Brandon Worthy (24), sophomore Charles Brown (15) and junior Kent Dennis (10). Fouls dictated the high substitutions for both teams, as Loyola tallied 31 personal fouls and had two players foul out (David Bailey and Louis Smith). LMU had 26 total fouls, including four on three post players, junior Jason Dickens, senior Miroslav Neskovic and freshman Chris Ayer. The fouls helped the Lions get to the line 44 times and the Ramblers 29 times. The Lions, who finished second in the nation in 2001-02 hitting 77.7 percent from the free throw line, finished hitting 31 of the 44 (70.4 percent), while Loyola hit 18-of-29 (69.2 percent).
Youthful Resiliency
Through the first two exhibition games and the season opener, the youthful Lions have proven that they won't go down without a fight. LMU erased second half deficits of seven and 13 points respectively in the two exhibition wins over EA Sports and Team Ezybonds of Australia. They did it again in the win over Loyola, erasing a 10-point deficit in the first half. The Lions trailed 18-8 with 13:49 remaining against the Ramblers. LMU would then go on a 9-0 run in the next 2:30 to cut the lead to one with 11:11 remaining on freshman Brandon Worthy's lay-up. During the run, the Lions had three points by freshman Chris Ayer, four by Worthy and a pair by sophomore Charles Brown. The Lions would later take their first lead of the game with 5:48 remaining on a lay-in by Ayer. The Lions used another run to put the game away at the end of the game. The Lions went on a 13-2 run when Brown hit a three-pointer with 4:23 remaining to give LMU the lead for good.
A LOOK AT EXHIBITION
Fans were able to get a quick look at the new men's basketball squad for Loyola Marymount University through a pair of tough exhibition wins. The Lions started with a 74-72 victory against EA Sports West All Stars and followed that with an 85-82 win over Team Ezybonds of Australia. In both games the Lions came-from-behind in the second half, trailing by seven against EA Sports and 13 to Ezybonds.
EA SPORTS
In the win against EA Sports West All Stars, 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.
EZYBONDS
A pair of free throws by Jeff Bevington gave Team Ezybonds a 64-51 lead at the 12:24 mark of the second half in the Lions' final exhibition. The Lions would then go on an 18-4 run over the next five minutes to take a 69-68 lead on sophomore Charles Brown's three-pointer at the 7:29 mark. LMU wouldn't fall behind the rest of the way to improve to 2-0 in exhibition play. Team Ezybonds, who has defeated San Jose State and UC Santa Barbara, dropped their third straight in as many days to go 3-4 on their West Coast tour. "We are a young and inexperienced team," said Head Coach Steve Aggers. "It is either feast of famine. However, we let them play through their mistakes and allowed them to learn. We played as bad as we could play in the first half but we found a way to win. We showed great resiliency once again." Junior Sherman Gay was one of five players in double figures for the Lions with 14 points. He added 10 rebounds for the double-double. Brown finished with 11 points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists. Junior Jason Dickens added 16 points, going 8-for-8 from the free throw line, junior Keith Kincade had 13 and junior Kent Dennis added 16 to pace the Lions. "The last 10 minutes we played really hard," said Aggers. "We had great balance with five players in double figures." The Lions held Team Ezybonds to just 31 percent from the three-point line, 10 percent lower than their average during their eight-game tour. Sedlock added 21 points and nine rebounds for Ezybonds.
RESTORING THE ROAR
In his first two seasons Head Coach Steve Aggers continued to mark milestones for the Lions. For the first time in five seasons, LMU claimed the most lopsided win against a Division I opponent with the 18-point win over Sacramento State and against any division opponent with the 26-point win against Occidental. With the early-season success, LMU has taken hold of the 'Team First' approach. Since he became the Lions' 22nd head coach in April 2000, Aggers has taken the program from an RPI ranking of #314 and in the middle of the Lions' three-game win streak from Dec. 2 through Dec. 8 the Lions found themselves with their highest RPI ranking in more than nine years at #76. Going back even further in the record books, the Lions had the highest average attendance of 2014 at Gersten Pavilion since the 1992-93 season (2,329). LMU has had its two best crowds in six seasons with the 3,342 against Gonzaga and the 3,158 against USC on Dec. 22.
RECORD BREAKERS IN 2001-02
The Lions spent most of the 2001-02 season among the nation's leaders in free throw shooting. In addition to their hot shooting from the line, the 2001-02 season had its moments of broken records. The Lions set the all-time record for free throw shooting in a season by hitting 77.7 percent in 2001-02, breaking the record of 75.5 percent set in 1968. They finished the season ranked second in the nation behind Morehead State. In addition, the Lions set the single game record by hitting 16-of-16 in the WCC Tournament against Gonzaga, breaking the older record of 12-of-12 against Pepperdine on Feb. 22, 1992. In the second game of the season, Mississippi Valley State shot 45 three-point attempts against the Lions on Nov. 11, 2001, setting an opponent record that was previously held by Pacific with 40 set on Dec. 12, 1998. Andy Osborn set the all-time freshman record with 152 rebounds in his rookie campaign. In addition, he set the freshman record for double-doubles in a season with three. Graduated senior Eurskine Robinson set the LMU all-time school record for consecutive free throws with 36, which started against Portland on Feb. 17, 2001. He broke Terrell Lowery's record of 32 set in 1990. Robinson would extend his free-throw streak to 36 against UNLV (Dec. 15, 2001) before missing on his second attempt. He finished 2-for-3 against the Runnin' Rebels. Graduated senior Greg Lakey and Robinson would finish the season with the third (.888) and fifth (.877) best free throw shooting percentage in a single season in program history.
LOOKING AHEAD
The men's basketball team has been invited to the 2002 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout and will take on Villanova in the first game on Thanksgiving Day. Joining the Lions, who will make their first trip to Alaska, are host Alaska-Anchorage, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Wyoming, Montana and the College of Charleston. The Lions will be the second straight representative from the West Coast Conference, as Gonzaga concluded the 2001 Shootout with a runner-up finish. The Bulldogs lost in the championship game to Marquette over the Thanksgiving weekend.
BACK FOR MORE
Sophomore Andy Osborn had one of the finest freshman campaigns in LMU history. He began his collegiate career by turning heads in the WCC and never looked back the rest of the season. His first three games at LMU earned him Player of the Week honors by the West Coast Conference for the week of Nov. 12. He started with 14 points and five rebounds in the loss to Samford, and then followed it with an even better performance in the win against Mississippi Valley State. The Longmont, Colo., native had 10 points and 10 rebounds at halftime to record his first collegiate double-double. He finished the game with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 12 rebounds and two assists. The 15 and 12 makes him only the ninth freshman in LMU history to earn a double-double and the 12 boards tied Forrest McKenzie for the second most in a single game by a freshman. He became the quickest ever to earn a double-double, getting it in only his second game as a Lion. He finished with two more double-doubles, breaking the all-time freshman record held by Luther Philyaw. With six rebounds in the Lions' finale against Gonzaga, Osborn broke Johnny Brown's freshman record of 148 rebounds set in 1981-82. He finished with 152 rebounds, for an average of 5.2 per game, which is ranked second behind Brown for rebound average by a freshman. His 293 points is ranked fifth and is the best offensive season by a freshman since Chris Haney scored 340 (13.1) in the 1984-85 season.
GERSTEN PAVILION
The Lions' home opener on Nov. 22 against Loyola Chicago started the 23rd season of basketball at Gersten Pavilion. Opening on Jan. 15, 1981, the men's basketball team has set many records, including several national NCAA records. More memorable moments in Gersten's history include the Lions' 16-game winning streak from Feb. 28, 1987 through Nov. 28, 1988. Gersten is also the home of the all-time NCAA Division I highest scoring game, a 186-140 win by the Lions over US International on Jan. 5, 1991. The Lions finished 5-9 in 2002-03 in Gersten, giving them an overall record of 155-128 (.548) in the facility.
THE WCC
The 2002-2003 season marks the WCC's 51st year. The league's current membership consists of eight private institutions (Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara) and has grown from just a men's basketball conference to now sponsoring 13 sports that compete on a national level. For five decades, the league has been driven by student-athletes with the common goal of academic excellence and athletic achievement. The league was founded in 1952 in an effort to create a convenient way for five Bay Area schools to play basketball. The five charter members, including Saint Mary's, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Pacific and San Jose State, joined together 50 years ago to form the California Basketball Association, beginning play on January 2, 1953. The league expanded in 1955 to include Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine and changed the conference name to the West Coast Athletic Conference in 1956. The name was shortened to West Coast Conference in 1989. The WCC has had 15 different schools as a part of its 50-year tradition, but the conference has stood proudly with the same eight member institutions since 1979. With the same membership for 22 years, the West Coast Conference is one of the most stable leagues in the nation, with only the Ivy League and Pac-10 retaining its membership for a longer period of time.
