Nov. 27, 2015 LOS ANGELES -- LMU men's basketball improved to 3-0 at home with an overtime win over CSUN on Thanksgiving Eve. They now head back out on the road for a two-game road swing that starts with their only trip east of the Rocky Mountains. The Lions (3-2) travel to SE Missouri State (0-4) to take on the Redhawks on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 12 pm (PT). The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
THE MATCH-UP
This will be the second meeting all-time between LMU and SE Missouri State. They met in the season opener for both teams at the LMU Classic last season... This will be just the second time on record the Lions will play in the state of Missouri. They played at Saint Louis on Dec. 22, 2012. In fact, this will be just the sixth time the Lions will play a school from the Show Me State. They have faced Saint Louis twice, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri Western and SEMO once each. They are 4-1 in those games... This will be the home opener for the Redhawks, who played their first four games of the season in true road games, falling at Dayton (84-53), Evansville (80-65), Alabama A&M (74-56) and Texas Rio Grande Valley (83-74). SEMO finished the 2014-15 season 13-17 overall, falling to the Lions in the first game of the season (76-66). The Redhawks are led by Antonius Cleveland, who averages 12.0 ppg and 5.0 rpg. Trey Kellum is averaging 11.5 ppg and 7.0 rpg.
GAMEDAY
The Lions finished a two-game homestand, opening with an 86-62 win over Antelope Valley during Alumni Family Day (Nov. 22) and then the 82-80 overtime win over CSUN (Nov. 25). The win over the Matadors was during the fifth annual LMU Holiday Classic. The annual game centered around the holidays and the local community began 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 Lions remain on the road for one more, traveling to Oregon State on Dec. 2 before returning home to face UC Riverside on Dec. 6. It will be a brief stay as the Lions will play the next four out of five games on the road. Tickets are on sale now, including special WCC Packages. For more information on tickets and attending games at LMU, visit LMU GAMEDAY at: http://www.lmulions.com/tickets/game-day.html
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions improved to 3-2 on the season thanks to an 82-80 overtime win against CSUN on Wednesday. LMU improved to 3-0 at home to start the early season as they head to the road for four of their next five games. Sophomore Joshua Spiers erupted for a career-best 24 points, hitting 6-of-10 three-pointers, to lead the Lions in overtime. His previous high was eight points against BYU a year ago, and as a freshman he made six three-pointers the entire season. The Lions have used their entire bench so far this season as all 12 players who have earned minutes this season are averaging 8 or more per game. In fact, the starter Spiers is the only Lion to have not played all five games this season. He did not play in the opener.
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 opener. In the last four 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 and they returned home to score 47 points from the bench against Antelope Valley. The bench added 18 more against CSUN, giving them 175 points through five 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 13.6 points per contest. Fellow junior college transfer Brandon Brown has been the most consistent and leads the Lions with 15.4 points, 5.8 assists and 32.6 minutes per game. He scored 24 points on 8-for-16 shooting against the Rams and he has scored in double figures all four games so far this season. He went for 15 points, nine assists and four steals in 42 minutes against CSUN Wednesday.
Joshua Spiers six three-pointers against CSUN on Nov. 25 is tied for the most in the last 20 years. Junior Matt Hayes hit six three-pointers a year ago against Santa Clara (Feb. 21, 2015), going for his career-best 20. Adoyah Miller also hit six three pointers in a double-overtime win against Boise State on Dec. 19, 2006. Spiers leads the Lions with 10 three-pointers on the season, hitting 45.5 percent. Sophomore Steven Haney has hit eight and junior Brandon Brown has hit six, leading the Lions at 54.5 percent from long range.
The Lions' aggressive defense so far this season has equated to 91 points, holding a 15-11 edge against CSUN in the last outing. They scored 28 points off turnovers against Antelope Valley in the return home Sunday. The Lions forced 39 turnovers on 20 steals in the latest two-game homestand, forcing 22 on 10 steals against CSUN. In addition, so far this season through four games have a turnover ratio of +5.4, forcing 17.2 turnovers per game while averaging 11.8 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 four more since to move to third all-time with 100 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.
