The road was not kind to Loyola Marymount University men’s basketball team last week, as the Lions’ losing streak reached four with losses at Pepperdine and USF, pushing them closer to the West Coast Conference basement.
A recap:
Jan. 16: 67-75 at Pepperdine: The Waves broke open a close game midway in the second half, stretching a nine-point lead to 13 with 2:31 remaining and holding off a late Lions’ rally. For LMU, Erik Johansson scored 19 points, Jordan Bell scored 14 with 13 rebounds, and Eli Scott had 10 points with six assists.
Jan. 23: 53-61 at San Francisco: Leading by two at halftime, LMU fell victim to a solid second half by the Dons who shot 55 percent in the final 20 minutes to the Lions’ 33 percent, and took the lead for good with 13:45 to play. Scott’s 17 points and 10 rebounds were tops for LMU.
Upcoming: LMU (7-12 overall, 1-4 WCC) returns home this week for games against Portland (9-11, 1-4) on Jan. 23 and Saint Mary’s (16-4, 3-2) on Jan. 25, both at Gersten Pavilion. Local players providing LMU’s opposition include Portland junior guard Jojo Walker (St. Joseph HS, Santa Maria), who last year was the Pilots’ second best scorer with 11 points per game..
The Lions then play at Pacific on Jan. 30 before a home rematch with Pepperdine on Feb. 1.
