Loyola Marymount finished the 1997-98 season at 7-20 overall and 3-11 in West Coast Conference action. The Lions ended the season in last place (8th) in the conference standings. LMU nearly advanced to the second round of the WCC Tournament, falling just one point shy of top-seeded Gonzaga, 79-78, in the first round.
LMU and Gonzaga met for the fourth time in WCC Tournament history last season. Gonzaga evened the series at 2-2 with a 79-78 overtime win over the Lions. In each of the last two meetings in the tournament, Gonzaga entered as the No.1 seed while LMU entered at No.8 (last time was 1994). 1997-98 marked the sixth season since 1987 that the Lions entered the tournament as the No.8 seed, however, the Lions have upset the No.1 seed twice during that stretch. In fact, LMU came within four short seconds of stealing its third win last year after G Haywood Eaddy hit a baseline jumper that gave LMU a 79-76 lead. Gonzaga G Matt Santangelo drove the length of the court and drilled a three-pointer to win the game for the Bulldogs. Gonzaga finished the season as an NIT participant after losing to San Francisco in the WCC Tournament championship.
The Lions were a much better team at home than on the road last season. Five of its seven total wins came at Gersten Pavilion, four of which were in non-conference action. Despite starting the season at 0-4, Loyola Marymount won four of its next eight games before entering conference play, all at home.
The Lions set a season-high, both as a team and among any team in the conference, during the season after converting 15-of-39 from beyond the three point line in the team's 71-69 loss at Portland (Feb. 19).
C Peter Cornell swatted a team and career-high 30 blocks during the season. With those 30, Cornell increased his total to 53 for his career, good for ninth among career leaders at LMU. Those 53 swats are just two shy of Richard Petruska's 55 he blocked during his only season as a Lion in 1991.
F Ben Ammerman came within just 46 points of scoring 1000 through his career. The Sacramento native completed his career with 954 points at LMU.
With a solid shooting performance in the team's final 11 games of the season, C Peter Cornell established himself as one of LMU's best percentage shooters in school history. Cornell converted 46-68 (67.6 percent) of his shots dating back to his return to the starting lineup at Pepperdine on Jan. 21. Cornell completed the season shooting at a career clip of 58.0 percent (135-236) and ranks fifth on the all-time career charts.
With 53 three pointers as a senior, F Ben Ammerman completed his career with 134 total, just four shy of Ross Richardson's 138 he totaled from 1991-94. Ammerman is the school's sixth leading all-time three point shooter.
Peter Cornell broke the school and WCC consecutive field goal record after converting 19-19 in a three-game stretch during the season. Cornell shot a perfect 8-of-8 from the field at home against San Diego (Jan. 30), hit another 7-of-7 at home against Saint Mary's (Jan. 31) and hit his first four shots at Saint Mary's (Feb. 5) before missing his 20th attempt. He came up just six short of the national record set by American University's Ray Voelkel who set the record in 1978.
From the line, Haywood Eaddy set a season record for consecutive free throws made with 24 during the year. He led LMU averaging 83.5 percent and finished the season ranked second among WCC leaders in 1997-98.
Coming within one steal of tying the all-time single game record of eight, G Haywood Eaddy tallied seven thefts at Saint Mary's (Feb. 5). The LMU record of eight was set by Corey Gaines on Dec. 2, 1987 at home against Westmont College.
C Silvester Kainga set an individual season high after swatting five blocked shots in the team's 76-68 win at home over San Jose State (Jan. 3). That mark, which came up just one shy of the school record, remained an individual high by any player in the conference during the season. LMU's record of six was set by Lloyd McMillian against Saint Mary's on Feb. 14, 1974.
Head Coach Charles Bradley picked up his 40th collegiate coaching victory after LMU defeated San Jose State (Jan. 3).
G Haywood Eaddy earned WCC Player of the Week honors after averaging 20.0 points and 4.5 assists in LMU's back-to-back wins over Southern Utah and San Jose State.
C Peter Cornell earned Co-WCC Player of the Week accolades for his perfect performance from the floor in two consecutive games. He converted 15-of-15 shots from the field in games at home against San Diego and Saint Mary's.
Team and Player Notes
- The Lions posted a 6-3 record when taking a lead into halftime.
- Nine of LMU's 20 losses came by fewer than five points during the season. The last was a 79-78 loss in overtime to No.1 seed Gonzaga in the first round the WCC Tournament.
- LMU hosted Utah, the 1998 NCAA Final Four runner-up at Gersten Pavilion. The Lions lost 89-50 on Nov. 25 at home to the Utes.
- LMU's starting five averaged nearly six minutes more than their opponents' starting corps. The Lions averaged 133.1 minutes per game compared to its opponents who averaged 127.1 per tilt.
- Charles Bradley used nine different starting lineups during the season, the most he has used in a single season as a head coach.
- G Haywood Eaddy led the team in double-figure scoring last season. He scored in double digits 17 times, leading the team on 11 different occasions. F Ben Ammerman trailed closely with 13 double-figure scoring outputs on the year.
- F Kenny Hotopp finished the season with six double-figure rebounding games. He also led the squad in rebounding 16 times during the campaign.
- The Lions finished with a 6-6 record when scoring more than 80 points.
