Nov. 22, 2014 BUY TICKETS | This is LMU Basketball | We Are LMU... | LMU on Facebook | LMU on Twitter
LOS ANGELES -- The LMU men's basketball team returns home to host three games in seven days during the Thanksgiving Week, starting with the second annual Alumni Family Day at the Game featuring the Lions hosting San Diego Christian on Sunday, Nov. 23 in Gersten Pavilion. A special family tailgate begins the day at 3 pm followed by tip-off at 5 pm. The game will be broadcast live on the LMU Sports Network and on KXLU 88.9 FM.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
INSIDE THE LIONS
BUSY HOLIDAY WEEK: The Lions have a busy stretch five games in less than two weeks heading into finals week and it starts with three straight at home during Thanksgiving Week. The LMU Alumni Family Day at the Game, offering special $10/$5 tickets to alumni families and friends starts off the week this Sunday. It is the second year for the Family Day that features a pregame tailgate out front of the Burns Recreation Center starting at 3 pm. The Lions then host UC Riverside on Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 5 pm. The game is the FOURTH ANNUAL LMU HOLIDAY CLASSIC, which is FREE to all and includes $1 hotdogs sponsored by Sodexo. The week ends on Saturday when the Lions host UC Irvine on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 8 pm. That game is part of a triple-header of basketball as the women's program hosts the final day of the Doubletree LA Westside Thanksgiving Classic at 1 and 3:30 pm that afternoon. Tickets to all the action can be found at LMULions.com/Tickets.
Part of a championship Sunday. The Lions Alumni Family Day at the Game will cap a full Sunday as LMU hosts the 2014 men's water polo conference championships in the Western Water Polo Association. And with an 11-9 win over 14th-ranked UC Davis, LMU finds themselves back in the title game. The Lions, the fourth-seed, will face top-seed UC San Diego at the Burns Aquatics Center at 1 pm. Tickets are $10 for aduls/$5 for children/seniors. The first 400 LMU Students with LMU One Card get in FREE!!! All this making for a full day at LMU. Here is a schedule of the day at LMU:
9:30 am - WWPA Fifth Place Game - Burns Center
11:15 am - WWPA Third Place Game - Burns Center
1:00 pm - WWPA Championship - LMU vs. UC San Diego - Burns Center
3:00 pm - LMU Alumni Family Day at the Game Tailgate Party - Burns Parking Lot
5:00 pm - Men's Basketball Alumni Family Day at the Game - LMU vs. San Diego Christian - Gersten Pavilion
The Lions opened the season with a split at their own LMU Classic on the first weekend of the 2014-15 season. The Lions opened the Mike Dunlap era with a 76-66 win over SE Missouri State, shooting 52.8 percent from the field and out-rebounding the Redhawks 41-29. They then fell to Boise State in the final game of the Classic, 77-69. The Lions once again out-rebounded their opponent, and leading by a pair with four minutes to play saw Boise State go on a 12-0 run to take the win. They then fell to 1-2 on the season after shooting woes limited them in a 68-44 setback in the first road game on the season at Arizona State Thursday. The Lions shot just 28 percent from the floor, 9.1 percent from three and 57.9 percent from the free throw line.
Real quick... Godwin Okonji will play in his 100th career game at LMU against San Diego Christian... freshman Simon Krajcovic made his collegiate debut on Thursday against Arizona State, coming off the bench to score nine points with three rebounds, two assists and three steals... The Lions 52.8 percent shooting in the opener was the best since hiting 55.4 percent against Northern Arizona on Nov. 17, 2013 and the 28.1 percent was the lowest since hitting 25 percent against seventh-ranked Gonzaga on Jan. 31, 2013... Evan Payne is the first player to score 22 or more in the first two games of the season since Jeff Fryer did it in November of 1989 with 23 against UNLV and 26 against Nevada. He had 23 and 22 in the first two contests... Godwin Okonji had his second career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds against Boise State.
Senior Leadership: The Lions, with 11 newcomers on the roster, will lean heavily on an experienced trio of seniors. Both Godwin Okonji and Ayodeji Egbeyemi are coming off medical redshirt seasons and will play their fifth season in 2014-15. The two have played in 99 and 94 games, respectively, at LMU. Both were expected to be mainstays in the starting line-up a year ago and enter the game with a combined 137 starts among them. Joining them is senior Chase Flint. He, along with Egbeyemi, have already earned their Bachelor degrees and both are in master programs at LMU. Egbeyemi is the MBA program while Flint is in the Elementary Education program. Flint has played in 45 games at LMU after coming from Eastern Utah College in 2012.
