The biggest crowd of the season turned out at Gersten Pavilion Jan. 11 to see Loyola Marymount University take on Gonzaga, the nation’s No. 1-ranked men’s basketball team.
Unfortunately for the Lions, Gonzaga (18-1, 4-0 WCC) played like a No. 1 team, winning their West Coast Conference contest handily, 87-62, before 3,534 spectators and a local Sportsnet viewing audience. It was the 22nd straight time Gonzaga has beaten the Lions since 2010.
The bright spot for LMU was another outstanding individual effort by Eli Scott, who led all scorers with 20 points and grabbed five rebounds. Only Ivan Alipiev joined Scott in double figures (10 points), and Jordan Bell had five rebounds and four assists.
Gonzaga dominated the backboards, outrebounding LMU 41-23, while shooting 53 percent for the game versus 42 percent for LMU. The Zags scored the game’s first six points and never led by less than four, building a 38-22 halftime lead, and — after the Lions pulled to within 45-34 with 13:32 to play — built the lead to as many as 30 late in the game.
The loss pushed LMU to 7-10 overall, 1-2 in the WCC heading into this week’s road contests at Pepperdine and San Francisco. Pepperdine is coached by Lorenzo Romar, a 1976 graduate of Pius X High School in Downey, who last fall was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the school’s successor, St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy.
