Unfortunately, I wasn't able to post after Saturday night's 72-67 win over South Dakota, but there were a few key things I still want to touch on. The win brought the Lions to 6-5 on the season, as they are now set to face Florida State on Saturday to wrap up this homestand. Florida State is easily the toughest competition on the Lions non-conference schedule this season.
Saturday night against South Dakota the Lions received excellent guard play from senior Vernon Teel and freshman Anthony Ireland. Ireland had a career-high 21 points to lead the Lions in scoring with Teel following closely behind with 20, accounting for more than 50 percent of LMU's offense. In addition, Ireland had seven rebounds and eight assists while Teel just narrowly missed recording LMU's first ever triple-double, finishing the game with the 20 points, along with 13 rebounds and eight assists.
The Lions had 22 assists in the game, and 29 buckets. The last three games LMU has been sharing the ball really well, something that is going to be vital if they want to continue this run.
Not only is it great to see the two starting guards play so well, but it also came on a night when leading scorer Drew Viney shot only 5-15 from the field with ten points. For the second time this season (the first being the OT win at Long Beach State) the Lions were able to overcome a rough shooting night from Viney and still secure the victory. It was also nice to see Viney come through with two big buckets down the stretch, even though he was having a tough game on the offensive end.
One thing though, that is still plaguing the Lions, is poor free throw shooting. In Saturday's game LMU shot only 52.4 percent from the free throw line, and while that might not hurt so much against South Dakota, it would definitely limit the Lions' chances against a tough Florida State team.
The Lions were without Ashley Hamilton (broken hand) for the first time since his injury, and his absence was definitely felt. Center Godwin Okonji had a nice game, but fouled out with about three minutes to go in the second half. It would have been nice to have Hamilton around, but he will be out at least another four weeks.
One thing that should ease the pain a little is the expected return of Edgar Garibay on Saturday night. His size should definitely be an added bonus for LMU against FSU.
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