Oct. 25, 2009

Photo Gallery

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -Sophomore Jarred DuBois answered questions on what his favorite subject by a 10-year old reporter from Jefferson Elementary School. Kevin Young and Given Kalipinde met the newest edition to radio play-by-play announcer Jeff Lampe's family, son Jackson. Redshirt freshman Ashley Hamilton had a break away dunk over Young in Navy's win over the white team.

All of it was part of Crimson-Navy Scrimmage and BBQ at Gersten Pavilion on Saturday, Oct. 24, which brought to an end a 24-hour period of madness that brought the entire LMU basketball family together to celebrate the start of the 2009-10 basketball season.

"This was a really good weekend for our program," said Head Coach Max Good. "The school really came out and supported us at Madness Friday night. And then today it was such a good atmosphere for our scrimmage. We are all a big family, and the support was great. Now it is our turn to do our part. We are going to put everything we have on that floor each and every day so that this family can be proud of what they are supporting."

It all started with more than 3,500 students at the annual Madness at Midnight Friday, Oct. 23. Gersten was rockin' as both the men's and women's basketball teams were introduced. As has become tradition, the night featured a dance competition among between various teams in LMU Athletics. Men's basketball took home the crown, knocking off defending champion men's soccer.

The following day, fans got a sneak peak to the Lions at the Crimson-Navy scrimmage. Actually the teams wore white and navy, but no one seemed to mind. The biggest result to the day wasn't the score on the scoreboard, it was the BBQ that came just prior to the scrimmage.

More than 300 fans were greeted by the Lions at the family gathering, which once again included students from the men's basketball community service initiative, LMU Cares. Students from Daniel Freeman Elementary, Lennox Middle, and Jefferson Elementary attended the scrimmage, met the team and journalism students interviewed players.

"Reaching out and being a part of the community around us is such an important part of the mission of this University and this Athletics Department, and it is no different for our program. It is a vital piece to who we are," said Good. "It was great to have the kids from the local schools out on campus and we look forward to developing relationships with them as the year progresses through LMU Cares and Project Knapsack."

The Lions will play their first game a week from Wednesday, taking on Hope International on Nov. 4 in Gersten Pavilion at 7 p.m. It is the Lions lone exhibition game of the season before they head to Montana for the University of Montana Tournament where they will open the regular season against Boise State on Nov. 13 at 4:35 p.m. (PT).