Nov. 24, 2015 LOS ANGELES -- LMU men's basketball (2-2) will host the fifth annual LMU Holiday Classic on Thanksgiving Eve, hosting CSUN (2-3) from the Big West Conference on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 6 pm. The annual game centered around the holidays and the local community features FREE ADMISSION
and $1 hotdogs provided by Sodexo.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
THE MATCH-UP
• This will be the Lions' third match-up of the young season against a member of the Big West. They opened with a win over Cal State Fullerton and then fell to UC Irvine in game two. The Lions will have two more with the Big West, facing UC Riverside at home (Dec. 6) and returning the game to CSUF (Dec. 12)... This will be the 18th meeting between LMU and CSUN, the first since a home-and-home series in 2002 and 2003. The Matadors earned a 74-71 win on Dec. 19, 2002 while the Lions claimed an 81-70 win in Gersten Pavilion on Nov. 25, 2003... The series began on Dec. 14, 1969, an 86-74 win for the Lions at Alumni Gym. The Lions lead the series 17-10 overall and are 7-1 when playing at home... The Matadors will be playing their second road game in three days, having faced USC (L, 96-61) on Monday, Nov. 22. They have wins over Wright State (72-67) and Vanguard (72-52), while they have additional setbacks to Northern Illinois (83-71) and South Dakota (76-72). Jason Richardson leads the Matadors with 16 ppg, while Tavrion Dawson averages 13.3 ppg and 7.0 ppg.
GAMEDAY
• The Lions returned home from a two-game road swing against a pair of NCAA tournament teams for a two-game homestand of their own, opening with an 86-62 win over Antelope Valley during Alumni Family Day at the Game on Sunday, Nov. 22. The Lions now host the fifth annual LMU Holiday Classic. The annual game centered around the holidays and the local community will begin a month-long campaign of giving. LMU Athletics and the LAX Community Relations Division have partnered the help support the Bob Hope USO. Starting with the LMU Holiday Classic and every game throughout the holiday season, fans are asked to donate new, travel-sized personal care items for our military. Such items include toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, sunscreen, shaving cream and shampoo. Collection bins will be located in the lobby of Gersten Pavilion at all men's and women's basketball home games through Dec. 23. The LMU Holiday Classic is FREE to all and will feature the special $1 hotdogs by Sodexo. Wednesday is NOT a University holiday, thus parking policies are still in affect. For more on how to get to the game and where to park, visit LMU GAMEDAY.
INSIDE THE LIONS
• The Lions returned from a two-game road swing against 2015 NCAA tournament qualifiers and defeated Antelope Valley, 86-62, on Sunday afternoon. The Lions improved to 2-2 on the season with the win. The Lions have used their entire bench so far this season as all 12 players who have earned minutes this season are averaging 10 or more per game.
• As the season enters game five, the Lions 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. 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. In the last three games, all 12 scholarship players made the rotation. The Lions finished the opener with 48 points from their bench. On the road, the bench scored 31 points in each game giving them 110 points in the three games. The Lions returned home to score 47 points from the bench against Antelope Valley, giving them 157 points through four games.
• Adom Jacko led the Lions in both the home and road openers, earning a double-double, scoring 22 points with 10 rebounds against Cal State Fullerton. He is second on the team with 13.0 points per contest. Fellow junior college transfer Brandon Brown has been the most consistent and leads the Lions with 15.5 points, 5.0 assists and 30.3 minutes per game. He scored 24 points on 8-for-16 shooting against the Rams Thursday. He has scored in double figures all four games so far this season.
• The Lions' aggressive defense so far this season has equated to 76 points, holding a a 17-7 edge in points off turnovers against the Titans and then an 18-8 edge on Thursday against Colorado State. They scored 28 points against Antelope Valley in the return home Sunday. The Lions forced 17 turnovers on 10 steals. In addition, so far this season through four games have a turnover ratio of +4.0, forcing 16.0 turnovers per game while averaging 12.0 themselves.
• 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).
• 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 added thre more since to move to third all-time with 99 blocks. The only four-year senior on the roster, he played in his 89th game Sunday. Mornar had 11 points with five rebounds and an assist against the Rams and is fourth on the team averaging 7.3 ppg and 4.5 rpg.
