Bayno begins to fill roster

Vernon Teel commits to Loyola Marymount

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Seton Hall sophomore guard Larry Davis verbally commits to LMU

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LMU 63, Pepperdine 72

The Lions came close, but their comeback fell short Saturday afternoon as the Lions fell to the Pepperdine Waves, 72-63 .

The Lions fall to 5-23 and 2-10 in the WCC concluding the regular season home schedule. The Lions will finish up regular season with road games at San Francisco and San Diego next week before going to the WCC tournament in San Diego on March 7.

LMU turned the ball over 25 times, leading to 16 points for the Waves. Pepperdine turned the ball over 13 times, leading to only 3 LMU points.

In his last game at Gersten Pavilion, Jon Ziri finishes his Gersten career with 4 points and 5 rebounds.

Hustle Stats

Rebounds: LMU 49, Pepp 40

Assists: LMU 15, Pepp 3

Steals: LMU 3, Pepp 14

Blocks LMU 2, Pepp 4

Team Leaders

LMU: Quentin Turner, 11 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds

Pepp: Tyrone Shelley, 17 points, 12 rebounds

LMU 25, Pepperdine 39 - Halftime

The Lions continue to have the same problems against Pepperdine, as the 16 LMU first half turnovers have led to to 14 points for the Waves, as Pepperdine holds a 39-25 edge on the Lions at halftime. 

Three pointers have helped the Waves build their lead as they are 6-14 from long range.

Hustle Stats

Rebounds: LMU 25, Pepp 16

Assists: LMU 5, Pepp 9

Steals: LMU 2, Pepp 9

Blocks: LMU 2, Pepp 2

Halftime Leaders

LMU: Marko Deric, 10 points, 4 rebounds

Pepp: Rico Tucker and Tyrone Shelley each with 10 points

Softball vs. UCLA

The LMU Lions home game today against UCLA was postponed due to rain. No make-up date has been announced yet. It was the Lions who knocked UCLA out of the NCAA Regionals last year, and this was due to be their first rematch since then.

WCC News and Notes: Pepperdine to name Asbury coach

Tom Asbury, former Pepperdine Waves coach from 1988-1994 appears to be on his way back to Malibu to give it another shot with the Waves.

After leaving the Waves in 1994, he went on to coach Kansas State for six years before going to Alabama as an assistant in 2003. He resigned after last season to retire to Tucson to tend to his wife, who was ill at the time but has since recovered.

Pepperdine University is expected to announce the hiring at news conference on Wednesday.

Pepperdine hopes the Asbury will bring stability to a program that has had three head coaches in 6 seasons.

Gaels overpower Lions, 80-49

On Monday night at Gersten Pavilion, it was not turnovers that would cause the loss, as that as been the case many times this season. It was the pure superiority of the visiting team, the most likely eventual WCC champion, St. Mary's Gaels.

The Gaels had simply too much fire power for the Lions to handle as they cruise to a 80-49 win to improve to 22-3, 9-1 in the WCC. The Gaels remain in a first place tie with Gonzaga. The Gaels won the first meeting between the two schools, and the team will rematch on March 1 at Gonzaga in Spokane, Wash.

The Lions fall to 5-21 and 2-8 in the WCC. The Lions were led by Orlando Johnson with 14 points and 6 rebounds. The Gaels were led by Patrick Mills with 22 points, 17 of which came in the first half.

Final Hustle Stats
Rebounds: LMU 28, SMC 45
Assists: LMU 9 , SMC 17
Steals: LMU 7, SMC 6
Blocks: LMU 3, SMC 4

LMU Leaders
Points: Orlando Johnson, 14
Rebounds: Orlando Johnson, 6
Assists: Quentin Turner, 3
Steals: Three tied with 2

SMC Leaders
Points: Patrick Mills, 22
Rebounds: Diamon Simpson, 9
Assists: Two tied with 4
Steals: Patrick Mills, 2

LMU vs. St Mary's - First Half

LMU started strong, but so far have not been able to keep pace with young Patrick Mills and no. 21 St. Mary's as the Gaels lead the Lions 39-22 at halftime at Gersten Pavilion on the campus of Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, Calif.

Mills leads the Gaels with 17 points on 6 0f 8 shooting including 3 from long range.

The Lions offense has been virtually non-existent as the Lions only have 22 points over the half. Freshman Orlando Johnson leads the Lions with 11 points and 3 rebounds.

Foul calls have been in ridiculous favor of St. Mary's and LMU's young team is having trouble handling the adversity. Brad Sweezy has been a solid energy spark again for the Lions.


Hustle Stats

Rebounds: LMU 12, SMC 22
Assists: LMU 3, SMC 7
Steals: LMU 4, SMC 3
Blocks: LMU 0, SMC 2

Halftime Leaders

LMU: Orlando Johnson, 11 pts, 3 rebs, 1 fl
SMC: Patrick Mills, 17 pts, 2 ast

Softball gets first win of tourney

The Lions came back today to beat Northern Colorado 10-1 in a dominant victory. Freshman Darcy Pagnini had a successful day offensively, going 3-4 from the plate scoring 3 runs and contributing 3 RBI's.
Tiffany Pagano, after picking up the loss yesterday, picked up her first win of the weekend going six innings, giving up two earned runs, and striking out nine.

Softball drops second straight

The Lions were handed a 4-1 defeat by the hands of Creighton in the opener of the TEN Construction Tournament Friday afternoon. This was their second straight loss.
Senior TIffany Pagano pitched three scoreless innings before giving up a two-run bases-loaded hit from Laura Kratochvil. Creighton went on to score two more runs in the fifth inning.
Offensively, the Lions had five hits in the game, two of which were by freshman Amy Charpentier who also scored the Lions' lone run.
They now face Northern Colorado in their second game of the tournament.

Men's Basketball: Lions fail to complete sweep of Pilots

Looking to put together their first set of back-to-back wins this season, the Lions found themselves locked in neck and neck battle with the Portland Pilots, a team the Lions had previously defeated this season at Gersten Pavilion.

The Lions would come short in the end, as the Pilots would pull away late to come away with a 74-63 hard earned win.

The Lions ran into a Pilot team on one of their best nights of the season as the Pilots out shot the Lions. The Pilots shot at 52 percent clip in each half, while the Lions went from shooting close to 54 percent in the first half, to finishing at 47 percent from the field.

The Lions fall to 5-19, 2-6 in WCC play, while the Pilots move to 8-16 and 2-6 in WCC play. The Pilots win forces a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference between Portland, Loyola Marymount, and San Francisco. Only Pepperdine trails the pack with 1-7 WCC record.

Up Next: The Lions head to Spokane to take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Tip-off will be at 5:00pm in Spokane, Wash. The game can be seen live on FSN Prime Ticket.

Softball: Lions close out tournament with a split

After starting the season 3-0, the Lions went into Saturday with two more games to play at the Red Desert Classic in Utah.
Game one finished in thrilling fashion as J.J. Hartung gave the Lions the 7-5 win over Wisconsin with a walk-off homer in the eighth inning. She finished the game 2-4 with three RBI's.
Sophomore Melissa Dykema picked up her third win of the season pitching in relief of senior Tiffany Pagano. Pagano pitched 4.2 innings giving up just two earned runs, while Dykema threw the final 3.1 innings giving up three earned runs. Both girls recorded four strikeouts.
In game two the Lions faced BYU and picked up their first loss of the early season, getting beat 10-0. Centerfielder Kirsten Slouber was the only Lion to have a hit in the game, going 2-3 at the plate.
Pagano came in to pitch the final 1.2 innings, in relief of both Dykema and Freshman Megan Heffron, and did not allow another run to cross the plate, striking out three batters.
Up next, the Lions head to Riverside for another tournament next weekend.

Softball: Lions advance to 3-0

Continuing on in the Red Desert Classic, the Lions defeated Utah Valley 3-2 yesterday. Senior pitcher Tiffany Pagano picked up her first win of the season, pitching all seven innings and striking out 12 batters. Sophomore J. J. Hartung was the only Lion to have more than one hit on the day, going a perfect 3-3 at the plate.

LMU Softball Begins Season

The Lions Softball team kicked of their 2008 on Thursday traveling to Utah for the Red Desert Classic. The Tournament will run through Sunday. In game one on February 7, the Lions beat Souther Utah 3-2 in an extra innings thriller. Freshman Amy Charpentier, playing in her first collegiete game, drove in the Lions' winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Junior SS MiaSarah Cesena collected three hits in the victory. As far as pitching, Tiffany Pagano pitched 9 innings, giving up just two earned runs and striking out 12. Sophomore Melissa Dykema came on relief to pitch three scoreless innings and collect the win.

In the Lions' second game of the tournament, it was all Melissa Dykema as she pitched a one-hitter, striking out a career high 16 batters, in a 6-2 win against Rhode Island. Junior Kirsten Slouber had a big offensive game, going 3-5 with an RBI.

LMU defeats USF Dons at home for second WCC win

Walk-on junior Corey Counts has been solid for the Lions all season, he was no different on Monday night as Counts scored nine of the Lions final 14 points to seal a 72-67 victory in Gersten Pavilion.

The Lions improve to 5-18 and 2-5 in WCC play. The Dons fall to 6-16 and 2-5 in the WCC.




The Lions, for the first time this season, got four men scoring in double figures led by Shawn Deadwiler with 18. Freshman Tim Diederichs performed his best in Gersten tonight scoring 18 points, a career-high. Diederichs has scored 26 points over the last two games. Freshman Orlando Johnson scored 11 points, despite leaving the game with an early 5 fouls.

Counts scored 11 points, nine in the second half, all nine coming straight late in the game. Counts also had a game high and career-high eight assists.

LMU vs. USF - 1st half

The LMU Lions and University of San Francisco Dons are in a tight battle in Los Angeles, Ca.

The Dons, 6-15 (2-4) lead the Lions, 4-18 (1-5) at the break 35-34 at Gersten Pavilion on the Campus of Loyola Marymount University.

Sophomore, Shawn Deadwiler leads the Lions at the half with 10 points. Manny Quezada leads the Dons, also with 10 points.

Lion sophomore Brad Sweezy got an offensive rebound and layup as time expired to pull the Lions within one. Sweezy has 5 points.

Team Hustle Stats

Rebounds: LMU 17, USF 21
Assists: LMU 8, USF 7
Steals: LMU 2, USF 1
Blocks: LMU 1, USF 0

LMU - Individual Leaders
Rebounds: Deadwiler, 6
Assists: Corey Counts, 3
Steals: Deadwiler and Quentin Turner tied, 1
Blocks: Orlando Johnson, 1

The Catch II

Beyond being excited that the Giants beat boston's finest in the superbowl yesterday, the only specific i can really remember is THe Catch. And yes, I know that that name has become trademarked for Joe Montana's throw to Dwight Clark in 1981, but honestly, Eli Manning's avoidance of a sack and throw to David Tyree yesterday may have been the best singular NFL play I have ever seen. I might even make that statement if the super bowl hadn't been on the line. Just watch it. It's incredible. But then to add on the fact that that play led the the Giants winning TD...incredible. So in the future, just so there is no confusion, we can all refer to this play as "The Catch II."

WCC News and Notes: San Diego upsets No. 20 St. Mary's

St. Mary's came Jenny Craig Pavilion on Monday night thinking they would walk away with yet another easy WCC victory, this was not the case as USD and Brandon Johnson had something to say about it. San Diego pulled off the upset with a huge second half, winning 63-55.

For the second time this season the Gaels lost in their first game after moving into The Associated Press' Top 25.

Brandon Johnson scored 25 points and Gyno Pomare added 20 to lead San Diego to a 63-55 victory over Saint Mary's (No. 20 ESPN/USA Today, No. 21 AP) on Monday night, hours after the Gaels moved into the poll.Saint Mary's (17-3, 4-1 West Coast Conference) lost at Southern Illinois 71-56 on Dec. 11, the day after the then-No. 24 Gaels moved into the poll for the first time since March 1989.

San Diego's victory was just its third over a Top 25 opponent in the school's history, and its first since a win over No. 14 UCLA in 2002.

Lions drown in the Waves

LMU Men's Basketball has been struggling through the long rebuilding year. Last Saturday's game against Pepperdine in Malibu was no different. The Lions struggled.

The Lions left Malibu disappointed after a 87-64 defeat at the hands of the Waves. The loss was the Lions's 10th straight at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.

The Lions finished the long road trip 0-3 and fall to 1-4 in WCC play, 4-17 on the season. Pepperdine improves to 1-4 in the WCC and 7-14 overall.

The Lions opened up the scoring early, jumping out to a quick 5-2 lead, with all five points scored by freshman Tim Diederichs who would finish with five points and one rebound in limited minutes due to foul trouble.

Pepperdine took the lead at 8-7 and would not look back, never surrendering the lead and cruising to the win.

"I must sound like a broken record," said Head Coach Rodney Tention. "The tougher team won again tonight. They played harder and they wanted it more. I thought we were ready tonight."

The Lions were led by freshman Orlando Johnson, who continues to improve and impress, recording his third career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The freshman from Seaside, Calif. continues to move up the standings for scoring and rebounds, as his 272 points and 115 rebounds ranks seventh and sixth for freshmen at LMU.

Sophomore Shawn Deadwiler continued his consistent play with a solid 17 point performance and senior Jon Ziri had one of his best offensive performances of the season with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists. Redshirt freshman Brad Sweezy chipped in with six points.

However, the Lions could not contend with the three-point shooting of Pepperdine, who made eight in the game, shooting 60 percent from behind the arc in the second half.

The Lions showed a zone defense in the first half in an attempt to slow down the Pepperdine fast break. They did, holding the Waves to just six fast break points. However, the Waves exploited the zone with their three-point shooting.

"We thought we could slow them with the zone," said Tention. "But we had no communication defensively and we gave up open shots. We cannot have two guys guarding the ball in zone defense. We have to get better."

The Lions offensive struggles continued as the shot a mere 37.3 percent from the floor and just 22.2 percent from behind the arc.

Turnovers also continue to plague the Lions' offensive efforts as they committed 19, leading to 26 points for the Waves. Five Waves scored in double figures, including Malcolm Thomas with a game-high 18. Tyrone Shelley added 16, Rico Tucker and Mychel Thompson had 15 and 12 points, respectively. Ryan Homles added another 15 points off the bench for the Waves. Pepperdine's bench outscored Loyola Marymount's 23-20.

The Lions attempted to mount several comebacks in the second half, but constantly set back by Pepperdine. Several times the Lions fought back to bring the lead down to 11 and sometimes 10, but a turnover and a couple defensive lapses and Pepperdine would once again have the lead back above 16 points.

The Lions return home to face the University of San Diego on Saturday. The Torreros are 10-11 on the season and 3-1 in the WCC. San Diego currently sits in 3rd place behind No. 24 St. Mary's and Gonzaga.

Lions offense reaches a halt on road

The Lion offense fell flat on its face over the weekend, as the Lions lost to Santa Clara, 58-35 on Saturday and No. 24 St. Mary's, 87-55 in their first road contests of WCC play. The Lions fall to 4-16 on the season and 1-3 in WCC play.

The Lions will finish up their road trip against Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif. on Saturday, January 26h. The Waves are o-4 in the WCC and 6-14 overall.

WCC News and Notes: Pepperdine's Walberg Resigns

ESPN.com is reporting that Pepperdine men's basketball coach Vance Walberg has told his players that he has resigned for personal reasons.

Walberg was hired as Waves coach in 2006 from Fresno City College.

Pepperdine is 6-12 this season, 0-2 in WCC play following Monday's 92-57 loss to Gonzaga in Malibu, Calif.

Assistant coach Eric Bridgeland will take over the team as interim coach.

Lions move to 1-1 in WCC play

The LMU Lions earned their first conference win of the season Monday night, defeating the Portland Pilots, 73-68. The win is the first home win of the season for the young team and also ends a seven game losing streak. The Pilots fall to 6-11, while the Lions move to 4-14, with their second win in the last ten.

Point gaurd Corey Counts all but put the game on ice with his late free-throw shooting, going 6-6 from line in the final 1:30 of play. Counts finished with 14 points, including two three pointers, and only one turnover.

The Lions turned the ball over 12 times, only four in the second half, half of them being in the final minute due to increase Portland pressure.

Four Lions scored in double figures lead by Shawn Deadwiler's 16 points, Counts's 14, Orland Johnson aslo had 14 to go along with 11 rebounds, recording his second career double-double. Feshman Tim Diederichs added 12 points. Diederichs left the game early with a cramp, but will be available for next week's contest at Santa Clara.

Jon Ziri, the lone Lion senior led the Lions on the court, doing the "little things" that don't show up on a stat sheet. Ziri led the Lions with four steals, and two points on a crucial steal that put the Lions up six with just over three minutes to play.

Freshman Brandon Walker has missed the last two games with a sprained ankle suffered in practice last Thursday, January 10th. Walker continues to be day-to-day, although Walker expects to return to practice on Wednesday. Walker should be available for the upcoming road trip.

LMU vs. Portland - 1st Half

The LMU Lions and Portland Pilots are in a tight battle at halftime. The Lions trail the Pilots by three at 30-27. LMU trailed 24-27 until Shawn Deadwiler hit a step back three-pointer with 3.0 seconds remaining. Portland knocked down a buzzer beating three-pointer to take the lead as time expired.

The Lions and the Pilots and two of the youngest teams in the WCC. The teams have 11 freshamn combined.

The LMU bigs are struggling in the rebound and foul department. Starting center Max Craig, and backup Terron Sutton have sat most of the half with early foul trouble.

Hustle Stats:
Rebounds: LMU 13, Portland 20
Assists: LMU 7, Portland 6
Steals: LMU 3, Portland 3
Blocks: LMU 3, Portland 2

Lion Leaders at Halftime:

Points: Tim Diederichs, 8
Rebounds: Orlando Johnson, 4
Assists: Shawn Deadwiler, 3
Steals: Jon Ziri, 2
Blocks: Deadwiler, Johnson, Sutton, Tied w/ 1

The Lions are shooting 39% from the field (11-28), 27% from behind the arc (3-11) and 40% from the free-throw line (2-5).

Women's Basketball: Lions end 2007 with loss in home tournament

The LMU Lions women's basketball team rounded up 2007 with a loss in their home Holiday tournament to Kansas State, 70-47.

The Lions won their first tournament game against Cal Stat Bakersfield, 95-90 in double overtime. Kansas State defeated Arkansas-Little Rock in their tournament opener.

The Lions close the books on the non-conference season with an 8-7 record and will begin conference play on January 10th at Portland.