Los Angeles, CA (Jan. 29) - In front of the fifth largest crowd in school history, the Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team put the cap on a memorable evening with a 63-46 win over rival Pepperdine in West Coast Conference play on Saturday night in front of 4,302 fans at Gersten Pavilion.
It was a memorable evening all around for the Lions as they honored the 2005 Class of the LMU Hall of Fame during halftime, including the 1989-90 men's basketball team that went to the Elite Eight. It was fitting that it was the largest crowd since that 1990 season and current senior Charles Brown, the lone four-year player on the squad, scored his 1,000-career point with free throws in the second half.
""It was a great evening to be a Lion," said Head Coach Steve Aggers. "A great crowd, the 1989-90 team being recognized, Charles earning his 1000th career point and beating your cross-town rival. It was a great night for LMU."
Brown finished with 11 points on the night as three Lions scored in double figures, paced by sophomore Matthew Knight with 15 and junior Wes Wardrop with 12. However, on a night when LMU recognized the highest scoring team in NCAA Division I history, it was defense that did the job for the Lions as they snap a five-game skid on the season and a 13-game skid to the Waves with the win. LMU improves to 10-10 on the season 2-5 in the WCC. Pepperdine drops their fifth straight and falls to 12-10 overall and 2-5 in conference play.
The Lions held the Waves, who entered the game ranked fourth in scoring at 73.3 points per game, to just 46 points on 29.6 percent shooting. It was the lowest scoring game for the Waves since scoring 44 in a loss to San Francisco in 1999. Alex Acker was the only Wave in double figures with 11. The Lions finished hitting 41.8 percent, earning 20 assists on 23 field goals.
"I was proud of how well we played defensively tonight," said Aggers. "We held a high scoring team 20 points below their average. Our intensity and energy was really a difference tonight. This was a great win for our program." LMU improves to 18-1 in games under Aggers when holding opponents under 60 points.
The Lions jumped out to their largest lead of the first half right before break when Daryl Pegram hit a three-pointer with 13 seconds remaining. Pegram returned to the line-up after missing the last two games with a left knee injury. Sophomore Brandon Worthy also returned after missing nine games after knee surgery on Dec. 29.
"We really shared the ball well tonight and I was happy with our rebounding. In getting Daryl and Brandon back, it allowed us to play in our traditional roles," said Aggers. "It will take us a while to get back into sync, but getting our full compliment of players back to night was huge lift to our team. We had a great week of practice and our confidence was up a couple of notches." LMU finished with a 41-39 edge in rebounding and outscored Pepperdine 30-14 in the paint.
LMU stretched their lead to 13 on a lay-up by Pegram with 15:14 remaining in the game. Pegram finished the game with nine points and a eight rebounds. The Lions would never surrender the lead in the second half as Pepperdine cut the lead to as low as six, 50-44, with 5:25 remaining. LMU's defense did the rest, holding the Waves to just two points on a field goal the rest of the way. The Lions finished the game on a 13-2 run.
The Lions will play five of their last seven on the road, starting with a trip to San Diego on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on the Lions Audio Network.
- GO LIONS -
