Nov. 15, 2015 LOS ANGELES -- The two-game opening weekend of the 2015-16 season for LMU men's basketball concludes on Sunday when the Lions visit 2015 Big West Champion UC Irvine at the Bren Event Center for a 5 pm tip-off. The Lions opened the 2015-16 campaign with a 79-74 win over another Big West foe, Cal State Fullerton, on Friday. The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM and broadcast live locally on KDOC-TV.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
THE MATCH-UP
The series against the Anteaters is knotted up at 11-11 after the UC Irvine defeated the Lions in Gersten Pavilion a year ago, 80-72, on Nov. 29, 2014. It was the programs' first meeting in four seasons, last meeting on Dec. 30, 2010 in the Bren Event Center. The Lions won 87-80... In last year's meeting Mamadou Ndiaye scored 21 points to lead the Anteaters, who would go on to the NCAA tournament last season... Both teams opened the season with the win. UC Irvine defeated UC San Diego 89-73 as the junior Ndiaye led five players in double figures with 16 points... UCI improved to 37-14 all-time in home openers while the Lions won their fifth straight to open a season.
GAMEDAY
The Lions begin a two-game road swing with the Anteaters. They then go to Fort Collins, Colo., to face Colorado State on Nov. 19 with a 6 pm (PT) tip-off. The Lions will face the Rams for the first time since 1982 and only the fifth time in program history. The Lions will then return home for Alumni Family Day at the Game on Sunday, Nov. 22 when the Lions host Antelope Valley State at 3 pm. A special pregame family tailgate starts at 1 pm. Season ticket packages are still available for as low as $90 adults/$45 seniors/children. For those in the LMU community, take advantage of the special discount by entering promo code LIONS90045 when you purchase through LMULions.com/Tickets. Single game tickets are available for Friday's game for $20 (adult/senior/students) anywhere in the arena and $15 for children. For tickets, visit LMULions.com/Tickets
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions opened the second-season under Head Coach Mike Dunlap with a 79-74 win over Cal State Fullerton at Gersten Pavilion. Adom Jacko led the Lions with a double-double, scoring 22 points with 10 rebounds. The Lions' aggressive defense forced 18 Titan turnovers and finished the game with a 17-7 edge in point off turnovers. LMU also had 17 offensive rebounds, helping them attempt 15 more shots than the Titans. Cal State Fullerton shot 53.4 percent in the second half to nearly erase an 11-point deficit. However, the Lions hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to ice it.
Jacko's double-double is the first by an LMU player in his first game as a Lion against an NCAA Division I program in 35 years. Senior Marin Mornar had 13 and 11 against Pacifica on Nov. 9, 2012. Greg Lakey had a double-double (13 and 10) against Vanguard on Nov. 17, 2000 and Pablo Machado had 15 and 17 against Cal Baptist on Nov. 20, 1999. In addition, the 22 points were the most by a Lions' player in his first game since Larry Davis had 22 against Boise State on Nov. 13, 2009. Brandon Worthy had a 24-point effort against Loyola Chicago on Nov. 22, 2002 for the best scoring game by a Lion his first collegiate game (freshman).
The Lions opened a new season with a win for the fifth straight season. The Lions are 40-21 in season openers since they joined the West Coast Conference in 1955-56. The Lions are 14-36 in the first road game of the season since 1959-60. They fell to Arizona State, 68-44, last season.
Senior Marin Mornar was second in the WCC in blocks a year ago, finishing with 47 as a junior to rank 5th all-time for blocks in a season. He is back at it to start his senior season. He had three in the opener against the Titans and is now tied for fourth all-time with former teammate Godwin Okonji with 96 career blocks. The only four-year senior on the roster, Mornar had 10 points, six rebounds and the three blocks in just 16 minutes off the bench Friday. He played in his 86th game Friday.
As the season begins, the Lions will feature a 15-man roster, and nine of them were not in an LMU uniform in 2014-15, eight newcomers and Steven Haney, Jr., who sat due to transfer rules last season. Haney and the six returning players have a season under their belt within the new program, and they will be asked to lead the team into the new season. With the new-look roster, the Lions will feature a full rotation. In the opener, Dunlap rotated 11 players with all of them playing at least seven minutes. Steven Haney, Adom Jacko and Brandon Brown were the only three with more than 20 minutes. The Lions finished the opener with 48 and 21 rebounds from their bench.
The new-look Lions played their first game as a unit in an exhibition game against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Nov. 8 at Gersten Pavilion. The Lions earned a 92-58 win behind Brandon Brown's 26 points. The Lions defense got a jump start on the season, forcing 22 turnovers and turning it to a 32-7 edge in points off turnovers. As a unit, the Lions have held a 49-14 edge in that category and have created 16 steals, 10 against the Toros.
Seniors Marin Mornar and David Humphries top the list of returning leaders. Mornar is the only four-year player on this year's roster, and he took huge strides a year ago. He played in all 31 games and made 22 starts, the most of any returner. He finished second on the team with 9.9 ppg and 5.3 rpg. He finished his junior season second in the WCC with 47 blocks, giving him 93 in his career. He enters the season ranked fifth all-time in LMU history. Humphries was one of Dunlap's first recruits, and the junior college transfer hit his stride in West Coast Conference play last season. He also played all 31 games, starting 18 - 14 of which came in WCC play. He averaged 6.6 ppg on the season, raising that to 8.3 ppg in conference games. He shot 39.3 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from three on the season, raising that to 42.3 and 43.1 percent, respectively, in the WCC.
Junior Matt Hayes was another junior college transfer, entering the Lions program as a sophomore. The sharpshooter was ranked ninth in the WCC in hitting 40.5 percent from three on the season. He finished playing 29 games, starting seven. Injuries slowed him in the middle of the season, but like Humphries, he was leaned on more as WCC play progressed. He finished averaging 4.2 ppg, scoring a season-best 20 against Santa Clara on Feb. 21. Sophomores Joshua Spiers and Petr Herman also had opportunities in their freshmen campaigns. Both had to adjust to coming from overseas, but showed flashes of growth towards the end of the season.
Also returning for the Lions are the redshirt transfer Haney and walk-on Tyler Batiste. Haney played in 24 of the 31 games as a true freshman for Central Florida before transferring to LMU a year ago. He averaged 4.8 minutes and 1.5 points per game at UCF. Haney was named second-team Florida Class 7A All-State after averaging 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals per contest for St. Thomas Aquinas. Batiste graduated from Westchester High School in 2013 and earned letters his final two seasons for Head Coach Ed Azzam.
The 2015-16 recruiting class combined to post a record of 266-98 (73.1 winning percentage) in each of their final two seasons at the previous institution. The incoming class includes NJCAA Player of the Year Brandon Brown (Phoenix College; Phoenix, Ariz.), Guyer High School (TX) all-conference selection and walk-on Miles Crawford (Denton, Tex., Elev8 Academy), 2014 CCCAA All-State forward Adom Jacko (Chaffey College; Upland, Calif.), NJCAA All-Conference selection Shamar Johnson (Pensacola State College; Pensacola, Fla.), McDonald's All-American Games nominee Jeffery McClendon (Eastside HS, Pasadena, Calif.), NJCAA All-Conference selection Buay Tuach (Northeast C.C.; Norfolk, Neb.) and Canadian National Team member Munis Tutu (Windsor, Ontario, Canada; La Lumiere).
