ATHLETICS | In front of thousands of cheering LMU friends and family members inside Gersten Pavilion on Saturday, the men’s basketball team pulled out the victory over their PCH Cup foes Pepperdine, 85-79. Steven Haney Jr. scored a career-high 31 points and passed Bo Kimble for third all-time in career 3-pointers, scoring six to reach 201. Kimble, former coach Paul Westhead, and much of the 1987-88 team that went unbeaten in conference play that season were in attendance and received special recognition at halftime. The Lions now hit the road for three straight games before returning to the bluff for the regular season finale against Pacific on Feb. 24, a night that will honor the contributions of Haney, playing in his senior year.
On the diamond, the LMU baseball team opens their 2018 season this week with a weekend tournament in Las Vegas. Jamey Smart is expected to lead the way after being named to the Preseason All-WCC Team. Both season tickets and single game tickets, as well as mini plans, are now available, so don’t miss a moment of action at Page Stadium with the defending WCC Champions.
Softball earned an opening-day victory over UC Riverside as part of their five games at the Cal State Fullerton Titan Classic this past weekend. The Lions will play in the Mary Nutter Invitational this weekend in Palm Springs before opening the season at home with a Feb. 22 doubleheader against Hawaii and a Feb. 25 doubleheader against Weber State.
The Loyola Marymount women’s water polo team rattled off three-straight wins to finish 3-1 at UC San Diego’s Triton Invitational this weekend. The Lions lost their Bracket C opener on Saturday in overtime, but won their second game of the tournament and upset two higher-ranked opponents on Sunday to place ninth in the competitive 16-team field.
The men’s water polo team also had a big week, despite being in the offseason. Five athletes from LMU men’s water polo were named to the ACWPC Scholar-Athlete Team. Head coaches made the nominations with athletes recognized at three levels: outstanding – 4.0-3.71 GPA; superior – 3.70-3.41; excellent – 3.40-3.20. LMU’s honorees are: Cory McGee, who earned outstanding recognition; Austin Clark, who earned superior recognition; and Matt Braun, Zach Gleason, and Ford Witman who each earned excellent recognition.
Spring sports are in motion as both the men’s and women’s rowing teams hit the water this weekend, and track and field competed in the Pacific Northwest. The women’s rowing team hosted UC Santa Barbara in a Saturday exhibition and the men competed against UCLA, both in Marina del Rey.
Four Lions made their 2018 track and field season debut at the Husky Classic hosted by the University of Washington over the weekend. Danielle Shanahan, Maddi Vorgitch and Jack Polerecky ran Friday night in the 5000-meter race, while Alex Beitia ran the 3000-meter on Saturday afternoon.
