It would be too hard to put into words how incredible this weekend was. For my (and the entire senior class’) final two home basketball games, the Lions defeated No. 9 Gonzaga and Portland, a team that was nationally ranked earlier this season. To say nobody expected us to do that would be an understatement.
But this weekend wasn’t just two great wins; what happened in Gersten Pavilion on Thursday and Saturday night will carry much further than this season.
The Crowd: For the first time in my four years here at LMU, the Lions finally had a solid home court advantage. Winning brings fans, and now that our men’s basketball team is finally winning there is finally starting to be a true fan base. Yes, in previous years certain games have packed Gersten and there have been loud cheering fans, but pure numbers and noise is not what I am talking about.
True sports fans and programs have routines and rituals, and fans in Gersten are finally starting to develop those. For instance, when sophomore Tim Diederichs scored in Saturday’s game, fans in the student section yelled, “Get some, Tim!” When sophomore Drew Viney scored, the crowd let out a loud “Drewwwwwww.”
This kind of home court advantage really brings the team and the fans together, which was evident Thursday night when the fans rushed the court after victory and celebrated with the team on its court.
The Fourth Spot: After a disappointing loss to San Francisco last weekend, it looked like the Lions had missed out on the chance to compete for the fourth seed in the WCC Tournament, a position that would give them a first-round tournament bye. But after two huge victories this past weekend, the Lions have given themselves a glimmer of a chance.
LMU currently sits one game behind USF for the fourth spot, with two games remaining in the season. Luckily for the Lions, the Dons play Gonzaga and Portland on the road, games USF will not be favored to win. Obviously, the Lions showed this weekend that the unlikely can happen, but after being embarrassed by us, I strongly think both the Bulldogs and Pilots will defeat the visiting Dons.
If all goes according to plan, and USF loses its last two games of the regular season, then the Dons would end up with a 7-7 conference record. We currently sit at 6-6, and there is no reason we shouldn’t beat USD for the second time this season on Thursday. Unfortunately, two disappointing losses to San Francisco earlier this year means that if we, too, finish with a 7-7 record, we would lose the tiebreaker and still end up in fifth. Therefore, we must beat both USD and Saint Mary’s to have a shot at the first-round bye.
Obviously, having to beat a Saint Mary’s team that is 9-3 in conference play is not an easy task, but as we showed this weekend, it can be done. So Lions fans, it is time to scoreboard watch. Start your praying now, and hope that Portland and Gonzaga demolish USF this coming week and that we can double this current two-game win streak.
The Vernon Teel Show: As many fans know, junior Vernon Teel updated his Facebook status this weekend to indicate that this weekend’s games in Gersten would be his last on that court. Teel, who graduates in May, still has one year of eligibility left and therefore has the option of remaining on the team for one more season (if the school renews his scholarship and he takes graduate classes, something that I believe the school would do in a heartbeat).
After Saturday’s game, on the record, Teel told me that nothing has been decided yet, and that he and the coaches would sit down after the season to discuss his future.
Teel’s going to get on me for saying this, but I am very confident he will be back in an LMU uniform next season. I want to emphasize that this is my own opinion, and he in no way confirmed to me that he was going to come back, but from what I know about Teel, I don’t think there is any way he would walk away now. He came to LMU to turn the program around, and he has had a big hand in doing that.
Next year, the Lions will have a legitimate chance of going to the NCAA Tournament, and it would be crazy for Teel not to want to be the one who takes them there for the first time in 20 years. Teel wants to play in the NBA one day, and I can assure him that scouts will take notice if he leads the Lions to the dance for the first time since Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble did so.
Teel has a flare for the dramatic, but in the end I can’t see him turning his back on the Lions now.
The Team Has Come So Far: This weekend really showed how far the team has come this year. Saturday night, the Lions’ biggest offensive threat, Viney, scored only six points. Jarred DuBois had 10. Earlier this season, the Lions would not have been able to win a game in which Viney and DuBois combined for only 16 points; it just wouldn’t have happened. But with others finally starting to solidify their role in the Lions’ lineup, LMU is now a legitimate team that can handle an off-night from one of its stars. This was also seen Thursday night, when Teel had just eight points and the Lions were still able to knock out No. 9 Gonzaga.
Players like freshman Ashley Hamilton, freshman Given Kalipinde and junior Larry Davis have become vital to the Lions’ success, and the Lions couldn’t have picked a better time to stop relying so heavily on a small core group of players.
My Predictions: While I don’t think the game at USD is a lock for us (as the Lions have tended to play down to their competition at times in the past), I do think we will walk out of San Diego with a victory. While I believe the Dons will lose out and give us the opportunity to steal away the fourth seed, I am not going to bet any money against the Gaels at home. While I think beating Saint Mary’s on the road it doable, I do not think it is likely. Therefore, I believe we will enter the WCC Tournament as the fifth seed, giving us a first-round match-up against the eighth seed (which will likely be San Diego). From there, we have a clean slate, and if enough fans come out to Vegas and we can turn the Orleans Arena into a temporary Hank’s House, who knows what could happen.
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