LMU to face San Francisco or Portland Friday

The first game of the men's bracket has wrapped up, and Portland was able to hold off a winless Santa Clara team 74-70 to advance into Thursday's game against San Francisco. The Pilots shot an impressive 56.8 percent and were led by Ryan Nicholas (pictured) who had 24 points. Portland and San Francisco will face off at 6 p.m. Thursday, followed by San Diego and Pepperdine at 8 p.m.

LMU will face the winner of the 6 p.m. game on Friday at 6 p.m.

The loss ends an awful season for Santa Clara, whose off-the-court troubles led to a 0-16 regular conference season. Before the season even began, Santa Clara lost big man Marc Trasolini to injury, a huge blow to the team's offense. Then, a couple of games into the WCC season, Kevin Foster, one of the best scorers in the league, was arrested for apparent drunk driving, and was therefore suspended by the team for the remainder of the season. Props to need to be given to the team that remained, however, as despite not winning a game, the Broncos did not roll over, and played a number of close games against some of the league's best teams.

LMU highly represented in conference awards

Head Coach Max Good was honored today with his first West Coast Conference Coach of the Year award, the WCC announced. Good guided the Lions to a 19-win season that included three wins over nationally ranked teams. The award is the first for an LMU coach since 1996.

The Lions were also strongly represented in the WCC's All-Conference team, as both Anthony Ireland and Drew Viney were honored with a place on the 10-man team. Ireland was second in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.7 points per game in conference play, while Viney ranked sixth with his 15.4 ppg.

All awards were voted on by the nine team's head coaches. Matthew Dellavedova became the second straight Saint Mary's player to win Player of the Year.

Tournament bracket revealed

The West Coast Conference just released the bracket for next weekend's tournament, and the Lions will play the first of the two quarterfinal games on Friday. LMU will take on either San Francisco, Santa Clara or Portland at 6 p.m. Friday evening, and the game can be seen live on ESPNU. Full bracket is below (click to enlarge).

Seeding set for WCC Tournament

The Lions held off an 0-15 Santa Clara team tonight to finish the conference season 11-5, good enough to earn the fourth seed for the West Coast Conference tournament.

With the addition of BYU to the WCC, the conference will now host a "play in" game for the 8th and 9th seeds, which will take place Wednesday and feature 0-16 Santa Clara and 3-13 Portland. The winner of that game will face No. 5 San Francisco, who Saturday night lost to Saint Mary's 67-60 after upsetting Gonzaga earlier this week. LMU will face the winner of the San Francisco vs. Portland/Santa Clara game.

Saint Mary's clinched the No. 1 seed in the tournament with its win over San Francisco, ending Gonzaga's streak of 11 straight conference titles.

LMU will need three-straight wins in Vegas to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, and likely a run to the finals to earn a spot in the NIT. They were led by sophomore Anthony Ireland in Saturday night's win over Santa Clara, as the guard had 17 points, six assists and four rebounds. Drew Viney had a nice game of 14 points and nine rebounds in what was likely his final game in Gersten Pavilion. A pre-game ceremony honored the team's seniors, which included Viney, LaRon Armstead, Kelsey Chine and Daniel Latimer.

Gersten Pavilion to send out seniors tonight

The Lions will host Santa Clara tonight in their final West Coast Conference game of the season and it will be the final home game for a slew of senior Lions, including starters Drew Viney and LaRon Armstead.

Drew Viney is the most naturally talented offensive player I've seen in a Lions uniform in the six years I've been a fan. He only played three years in an LMU jersey, having started his collegiate career at the University of Oregon, but still ranks as one of the greatest players in program history. Drew recently became just the 13th Lion to score more than 1,000 career points while pulling down more than 500 rebounds.

Drew has an unbelievable and diverse offensive game. Able to play both inside and outside the paint, he has moves that are typically only seen at the professional level, from his fadeaway jumper to his pump-fake to his patience and footwork around the rim. He is the type of player capable of exploding for 30 points on any given night.

Unfortunately, Drew's time at LMU has been sprinkled with injury (an off-season foot surgery, a battle with migraines), so I don't think we as fans ever got to see him consistently play to his full potential. He had moments of absolute pure greatness, and moments where he shied away from the spotlight. That's why thinking about a Lion season without Drew is so disappointing and scary. He will undoubtedly leave an unfillable hole.

LaRon Armstead has always been a crowd favorite, and he deserved it. Every interaction I've had with him both during my time covering the team and since I just got the impression that he is one of the nicest guys. Furthermore, he has had, what would have been to many, a somewhat frustrating career as a Lion.

Many have blocked the 2008-09 season from their memories, but that was the year a freshman named LaRon Armstead poured his heart and soul into a team that ended up finishing just 3-28. Vernon Teel and Jarred DuBois seemed to be the face of the struggling program, but when Teel went down with a broken foot LaRon stepped up big, even playing back-to-back games of 40 minutes when the team, with an ever-shrinking roster, needed him to. I'll never forget the team's game at LMU, when LaRon went for 18 points again the No. 12 ranked team. Even Bruins fans were buzzing about the kid.

But then things got more difficult for LaRon, and his minutes diminished dramatically with the arrival of Drew Viney, Larry Davis and others to the team the following two years. I remember talking to Coach Good about him, and how he respected LaRon so much and felt bad that there didn't seem to be a consistent spot for him in the lineup.

That's why I'm so glad he got to have another coming out party this season, and reinserted himself into the starting lineup. Despite being the odd one out of the lineup for the better part of the past two seasons, LaRon continued to work hard and help the team when asked. He deserved this years starting spot more than anybody. He will graduate ranking in the top-25 of games played as a Lion.

Tim Diederichs will most likely appear in his final game as a Lion tonight. Tim is the longest tenured player on the team, and consistently worked hard to improve. Even when not appearing in games, Tim was an asset to the team with his positive attitude and motivation from the bench. Drew always liked playing with Tim for the simple reason that he focused on fundamentals, boxing out, setting screen, etc.

Walk-ons Kelsey Chine and Daniel Latimer will also be honored at tonight's Senior Night ceremony. Like Tim, Daniel has been an exceptionally positive figure on the bench. Also seems like an extremly nice guy every time I interacted with him. Kelsey approached Coach Good concerning a walk-on spot when he arrived at LMU. I remember Coach Good telling me how impressed he was with the kid, who played high school ball with Jarred. I wish them both the best.

Toreros stun Lions in Gersten

Well, that was unexpected.

After two of the biggest wins of the season, the 10-4 Lions hosted a 6-8 Torero team tonight in the second-to-last regular season game of the year. San Diego came out strong, and had LMU on its heels for the majority of the game, eventually upsetting the home team 60-57.

The Lions never led by more than two in the first half, and trailed by six at the half. The team's leading scorer Drew Viney had only five points in the contest on 2-7 from the field, and the Lions shot less than 25 percent from beyond the arc in the game. The team has been living and dying by the three recently, but hot-shooting masked it well the past few games. Not tonight, as no Lion made more than one three in the game.

Ashley Hamilton led the way with 15 points, despite scoring just one in the first half of play. The redshirt junior carried LMU on his back to start the second period, scoring the team's first 11 points of the half. Anthony Ireland was the only other Lion to score in double-figures, contributing 14 on 7-15 from the field. The sophomore, however, did not have a three-pointer or free throw in the game.

While LMU had a decent shot at making a run for third place in the conference standings, tonight's disappointing loss pretty much solidifies a fourth place conference finish. While it's great that the Lions already earned themselves a first-round bye, the team that showed up tonight would have no chance of beating San Francisco in a quarterfinal match in Vegas. Let's hope this was the team's one off night, and they come back prepared Saturday night when they take on Santa Clara. The game is Senior Night, and it will likely be the last time starters LaRon Armstead and Drew Viney play in Gersten. I hope the team can send them out with a win.

Saturday's game tips off at 8 p.m., and can be seen live on Fox Sports West.

A few things I noticed:

• AI looked exhausted tonight, even in the first half. He has played an extrordinary amount of minutes this season, so I hope that isn't catching up to him. He still had some stellar moments, but his outside shot wasn't there and he just seemed gassed. 
• Drew only took seven shots, which anyone who reads my column will know I hate, but from watching the game he wasn't really turning down open looks. You have to give some credit to the San Diego defense. However, Drew has been playing so well of late that a five-point game is just disappointing. I hope this was his one off-night and he can now come back strong the next four games.
• The game against Santa Clara is now just all about momentum. Heading into Vegas with two disappointing losses would be less than ideal, so let's hope the team gets some positive energy back Saturday and shows up in Vegas like the road warriors we've seen all season.
• Heading into the WCC Tournament with a long winning streak, however, would also have been dangerous, as a letdown would almost be eminent. However, tonight's loss does seriously hurt our chances at an NIT bid.

Final conference homestand kicks off tonight

The Lions will begin their final homestand of the 2011-12 season tonight, as they welcome San Diego to Gersten Pavilion. The Toreros are 3-2 in their last five games, securing WCC victories over Santa Clara, Pepperdine and Portland and losing to San Francisco and Cal State Bakersfield. They are 6-8 in West Coast Conference play.

The two teams met in January in San Diego, when the Lions picked up their second WCC win with a 79-68 victory behind a strong offensive performance from Drew Viney.

The game is an important one for the Lions, who are looking to make a final push in the conference standings before the regular season concludes Saturday night. LMU currently sits one game behind both BYU and Gonzaga, who are facing off against each other tonight in Spokane, Wash.

The Toreros are led by one of the conference's best offensive freshman Johnny Dee, who last time lit the Lions up for 24 points while shooting 6-12 from three. Dee is an exceptionally quick shooter, and the Lions will surely look to do a better job locking him down.

The game tips off at 7 p.m., and can be seen live on lmulions.com.

Other games of interest for Lions fans will be the BYU/Gonzaga showdown on ESPN2 and Saint Mary's vs. Portland matchup on ESPNU. LMU fans should be rooting for Gonzaga and Saint Mary's victories, as explained in my column below.

Wild, Wild West Coast Conference

I received two texts this past weekend, both asking the same question, about two separate West Coast Conference men's basketball games. They both read, "Who do we want to win, again, in this game?"

That is because the WCC men's basketball standings are closer than they have been in years, and with six of the nine tournament seeds still up for grabs with just one week left before the conference tournament begins in Las Vegas, it is hard to know exactly how to root for your team, especially if you're a Lions fan.

The Lions have secured a fourth seed, and therefore a first-round bye, at the tourney, but there is still a decent shot they can snatch the third seed away from either Gonzaga or (more likely) BYU. While that would allow LMU of playing the second seed, not the first, in the semifinals, what may be more important is it would give the team a much easier quarterfinal matchup; basically, avoiding a very hot San Francisco team.

Here is the easiest, and most probable, way for the Lions to steal the third-place spot. All of the following things would need to happen.

• LMU would need to win its final two conference games against Santa Clara and San Diego. Both are at home and against teams the Lions have previously beat. Odds are definitely in LMU's favor here.
• Saint Mary's would need to win its final two games. The No. 1 team in the conference is set to face Portland and San Francisco. Portland should be easy, but the Dons could definitely test the struggling, limping Gaels, especially since the game is on the hilltop in SF. The odds, however, do have to be in Saint Mary's favor here. And therefore, also the Lions' favor.
• Gonzaga needs to win its final two games. This is the trickiest part, as Gonzaga will most likely beat San Diego Saturday, but will first face BYU in one of the biggest games of the season Thursday. Luckily for the Lions, the game is in Spokane, a place where the Zags have not lost yet this conference season. 

Why this works for the Lions: If the above happens, the best BYU could do this weekend is go 1-1 (having lost its game to the Zags Thursday). That would leave BYU and LMU tied in the standings. Because the two teams split their head-to-head matchups, LMU would beat BYU in the tiebreaker based on the fact that it had the "bigger" conference win, defeating the No. 1 Gaels over BYU's biggest conference win, defeating the No. 2 Bulldogs. 

There are a lot of scenarios still possible, but the above seems both the most likely and easiest when it comes to figure out who to root for this weekend. It is important, however, to mention that if Saint Mary's and Gonzaga TIE for first-place in conference, I am pretty sure BYU would then beat out LMU in the tiebreaker for third place, as it would have matched LMU's biggest win and tops LMU in the next tiebreaking category (RPI).

Either way, Thursday and Saturday should be a lot of fun. Can't remember who to root for or just want to follow along with the action? Follow The Bottom Line on Twitter at @thebottomlinejp.

Ireland recognized as conference Player of the Week

Congratulations to Anthony Ireland, who just earned WCC Player of the Week honors for the second time this season. Ireland led the Lions to two victories this past week, one of the road over No. 16 Saint Mary's and one at home in a Sears BracketBuster game over Valparaiso. He averaged 17.5 points and 6.0 assists in the two games.

WCC Standings Update

Tough day for the top teams in the WCC, as Saint Mary's lost its non-conference BracketBuster game to Murray St. and Gonzaga was upset for the third year in a row by San Francisco. BYU, however, did secure a win over Santa Clara. The standings for the Top-4 (who have all secured themselves first-round byes at the Tournament) now stand as follows:

St. Mary's     12-2

Gonzaga       11-3

BYU            11-3

LMU            10-4

LMU leads wire-to-wire in BracketBuster win

The Lions jumped out to an 8-0 advantage over Valparaiso Friday night and never looked back, eventually winning the Sears BracketBuster game 61-53.

It felt like LMU was in control of the game the entire night, and showed no letdown after the huge win over No. 16 Saint Mary's Wednesday. Sophomore point guard Anthony Ireland led the way with 19 points, while Ashley Hamilton continued his strong play from the second-half of the Gaels game to pitch in 12. LMU is now 18-10 on the season, and will host Santa Clara and San Diego later this week to close out the regular season.

Gersten Pavilion was packed for the game, which aired live on ESPNU, with more than 4,000 people in attendance. There was also a different mood in the building, as it almost seemed like, for the first time in years, that fans expected the Lions to win the game; a testament to how well the team is playing.

Despite scoring only nine points, Drew Viney was 4-7 from the field and definitely seems to have found his stroke. Center Godwin Okonji is also playing his best basketball of the season, and despite getting into foul trouble played a solid defensive game, pulled down five boards and had two steals. LMU outrebounded their opponent by 14.

In addition to leading the team in scoring, Ireland also led the team in rebounds with eight and assists with five.

LMU will now have a couple well-deserved days of rest before hosting the San Diego Toreros Thursday at 7 p.m. LMU defeated San Diego 79-68 on Jan. 7 behind a 20-point game from Viney. LMU has secured a top-4 spot in the WCC standings, but will look to challenge BYU for third by beating San Diego and then Santa Clara Saturday.

The best news for Lions fans? Drew Viney is playing his best basketball of the season, right when the Lions need it the most. Want some proof? Just watch this video below.

LMU returns home to host first BracketBuster game

After a rough couple of games, Ashley Hamilton came up big for the Lions in the second half of their win over Saint Mary's.

After what was easily its biggest win of the 2011-12 season, the LMU basketball team will now return home to host a Sears BracketBuster game tonight against Valparaiso. The game tips off at 6 p.m., and can be seen live on ESPNU or ESPN3.com.

The game is an interesting one for the Lions, who will be looking to continue to boost their RPI after the win over Saint Mary's. The team's RPI is currently 92, still dramatically higher than that of the other top-four teams in the West Coast Conference after tough non-conference losses to Morgan State, North Texas and Columbia. A win over Valparaiso will be another semi-signature win for LMU, and will definitely give the team a bit more national attention.

The Lions currently sit in fourth place in the WCC standings at 10-4, half a game behind third-place BYU.

The Crusaders are 19-9 on the season, and 12-4 in conference play. They are currently winners of five of their last six games, which is the same as LMU's recent hot streak. Valparaiso is led by Ryan Broekhoff, who averages 15 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

However, Valparaiso is admittedly not entirely focused on tonight's game, as they host an important conference game against Loyola (MD) in just a couple of days. The Crusaders are in the midst of fighting for a conference championship, and a mis-season trip to Los Angeles isn't their top priority. So much so, that center Kevin Van Wijk didn't make the trip, after waking up sore after the team's last game.

The game is more of a momentum game for the Lions, who can't expect to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if they don't win the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas. However, after such a great win over Saint Mary's, the team would like nothing more then to win a nationally televised game and keep it's hot play alive before closing out the regular season against San Diego and Santa Clara, games that the Lions should easily win.

Road warriors strike again

LMU upset No. 16 Saint Mary's tonight with a 75-60 victory. The Lions finish their conference road season with an astonishing 7-1 record and hand the Gaels their first home loss of the year. It was also the Lions first win over the Gaels in six years.

LMU practically led wire-to-wire, with guard Anthony Ireland and forward Drew Viney getting the team out to a hot start, scoring the team's first 13 points. Ireland finished the game with 16 points, seven assists and three rebounds, despite playing with some foul trouble. Viney finished with a team-high 17.

Jarred DuBois contributed 15 points of his own off the bench, and Ashley Hamilton added 11. With the win the Lions boast a a 10-4 West Coast Conference record. LMU has also gotten the best of three ranked opponents this season.

The Lions will finish out their WCC schedule by hosting San Diego and Santa Clara next week, but will first appear on national television Friday to host Valparaiso in a BracketBuster game. The 6 p.m. game can be seen live on ESPNU.

Updated Conference Standings

Road trip concludes with WCC's best

The Lions will play their final road contest of the 2011-12 regular season tomorrow when they travel to Moraga, Calif. to take on the No. 16 Saint Mary's Gaels. The Gaels sit atop the West Coast Conference standings with an 11-1 record, having lost last Thursday to Gonzaga in Spokane. With a win, Saint Mary's guarantees itself a top-two conference finish.

LMU is also coming off of a loss in Spokane, and now sit at 9-4 on the season, half a game behind BYU for the third spot. The matchup against Saint Mary's will be the Lions' fifth against a ranked opponent this season, having previously beaten ranked UCLA and Saint Louis teams. This is also the Lions second contest against the Gaels this year, having lost to them in Gersten Pavilion 71-64 on Jan. 26. LMU has not beaten Saint Mary's since 2006. Saint Mary's is currently 16-0 at home this season.

LMU will look to continue an already-impressive season Wednesday with a win over the Gaels. The team's nine WCC wins are already the most since the 1990-91 season, and after facing Saint Mary's the team will still host two conference games at home.

The game can be heard live on KXLU 88.9 at 7:30 p.m. or watched on tape delay on Prime Ticket at 10 p.m.

Battle for second place set for tomorrow

LMU will enter the hostile Kennel tomorrow evening to take on Gonzaga at 5 p.m. The Lions are coming off of a solid win over Portland while the Bulldogs are coming off of their biggest win of the season, a convincing victory over the previously undefeated Saint Mary's Gaels.

LMU and Gonzaga met on Jan. 14 in Gersten Pavilion, when the then-No. 21 Bulldogs left with a 62-58 victory. The Lions were led by Ashley Hamilton, who had a team-high 16 points, but were without Jarred DuBois, who sat with a concussion. Leading scorer Drew Viney struggled from the floor, shooting just 2-10 and finishing with an un-Drew-like six points.

Gonzaga was led by Elias Harris, who had a game-high 19 points. The forward had a solid game against Saint Mary's last night, so the Lions need to find an answer for him on the defensive end of the court.

The Lions held their own on the boards last game, pulling down only two less rebounds than the Bulldogs. LMU will have to do the same tomorrow if they want a shot at winning, but the key to the game may be how well the Lions can shoot. In the team's last two victories (wins over San Francisco and Portland) LMU is an impressive 21-39 from the three-point arc, and if they remain hot tomorrow they definitely have a chance to get the victory.

A win would put LMU in sole possession of second place in the WCC standings, half a game in front of Gonzaga.

Spokane, Wash., is not an easy place to win, however. Gonzaga is an astonishing 120-9 at home since 1999, so the Lions have a tough battle ahead of them.

LMU wins first of three-game road trip

The Lions improved to 9-3 in conference play tonight with a 76-62 win over Portland. It was the second win over Portland in the past two weeks for LMU, who will now travel to Gonzaga for the second game of a three-game road trip Saturday. Gonzaga will be coming off of a huge win over No. 13 Saint Mary's.

The Lions used quite the team effort to win their season-high fourth-straight game, with five players scoring in double figures. Godwin Okonji had his biggest game of the season, adding 10 points and nine rebounds. Drew Viney contributed 16 points, while Anthony Ireland added 15. Freshman C.J. Blackwell had an impressive 11 points after playing zero first-half minutes. LaRon Armstead also came up big, scoring all 13 of his points after the break.

The win puts the Lions half a game in front of BYU in the conference standings, good enough for sole possession of third place. Tonight's win was also the first for LMU in Portland since 2006.

LMU heads North to take on Portland

Winners of five of their last six games, the Lions will head to Portland tomorrow to take on the Pilots for the second time in two weeks. The last time the two teams met, LMU guard Jarred DuBois knocked down what would turn out to be the game-winning three with 17 seconds left on the clock. He had 18 in the game.

The Pilots have gone 1-1 since then, beating Santa Clara but losing to BYU.

The Lions shot 41 percent in the two team's first matchup, but only 21 percent from beyond the arc. Their defense saved them, however, holding Portland to just 2-13 from deep. While the Lions shouldn't expect Portland to go cold from deep again, the Pilots also shouldn't expect Drew Viney to go just 3-9 from the field.

It's an important night in the WCC race, as Gonzaga will be facing off against Saint Mary's at the same time. An LMU victory and a Gonzaga loss would put the Lions half a game above the Bulldogs in the standings before Saturday's battle in Spokane.

LMU's game at Portland tips off at 8 p.m., and can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM. The game will be shown on delay on Fox Sports Prime Ticket at 10:30 p.m.

What doesn't kill them makes them stronger

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." It's an age-old saying and to be honest, one I don't necessarily believe in. When it comes to the Lions, however, it just may be the truest statement you can make this season.

After an ugly win over Pepperdine last Thursday, I wasn't feeling to confident for the game against San Francisco Saturday. The Dons were coming in hot, and LMU had just barely squeaked out a win at San Francisco Dec. 31. In fact, the two teams had been separated by only a combined four points in the previous three match-ups.

I feared my gut instinct was right when the Lions got off to a horrible start Saturday. The team had eight first half turnovers, shot 37 percent from the floor and only 14 percent from three and allowed the Dons to  shoot 47 percent and an impressive 48 percent from deep. The lead would get as large as 19 numerous times, and every time the Lions began to claw their way back the Dons would hit a rally-ending three.

But even during tough seasons, games and moments, this team has never been one to quit. However, as Lions fans will know, the team is notorious for making a huge comeback and falling just short. But not this time.

The win turns what started as 30 minutes of sloppy play into positive momentum for the team. They now hit the road for a tough road trip with confidence and more camaraderie than ever before. And all that without even mentioning how important that win was for LMU's place in the West Coast Conference standings. The victory allowed LMU to further distance itself from San Francisco, and keep pace with BYU with just five regular season games remaining.

But I am not one to critique the team when it loses and solely praise it when it wins. The Lions cannot expect to play an astonishing ten minutes of basketball night-after-night and beat teams like Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and BYU. The team was able to pull out the miraculous comeback with hot shooting that it can't expect night in and night out.

The Lions have yet to lose a conference game on the road, but haven't been tested away from Gersten Pavilion in a couple weeks. Thursday's showdown with Portland tips off at 8 p.m.

Lions claw back to shock Dons in 90-88 victory

Once down by 19, LMU fought its way back Saturday night to beat San Francisco 90-88 at Gersten Pavilion. The Lions now boast a 8-3 WCC record and remain tied with BYU for third place. Drew Viney led the way with arguable his best game of the season, finishing with 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Getting out to an extremely sloppy start, the Lions found themselves down for the majority of the first half. Hot shooting by San Francisco and sloppy turnovers by LMU gave the Dons a 41-22 lead with three minutes remaining in the first period. The Lions were able to cut it to 13 at the break.

The second half started off much the same for the Lions, who looked like they couldn't buy a bucket. Every time LMU was able to get within nine points of the visiting team San Francisco was able to fight back with three-pointers, at one point hitting three in a row to take a 16 points lead with just over 14 minutes to play.

However, down by 15 points with just over seven minutes to play, the Lions made their final comeback, which proved to be enough. Anthony Ireland, Jarred DuBois and a resurgent Drew Viney put the team on their back and carried them to victory with clutch three-point shooting. DuBois finished with 17 points while Ireland, who struggled from the floor most of the night, still finished with 15.

The Lions put together a 60-point second half show while shooting an astonishing 10-13 from the three-point line.

LMU will now head out on the road to face Portland on Thursday night.

Streaking Dons to visit Gersten Pavilion

The last three times the Lions and Dons have matched up on the hardwood, the game has been decided by two points or less. Fans should expect nothing different tomorrow, as San Francisco enters Gersten Pavilion winners of three-straight, while LMU has earned two consecutive victories of their own.

The two teams battled it out Dec. 31 to kick off WCC, and despite holding a 20-point lead midway through the game, the Lions needed overtime to eventually defeat the Dons 77-76 after a game-winning bucket by sophomore Anthony Ireland. The Dons now hold a 5-5 conference record, but have won three straight after defeating Portland and Santa Clara on the road and San Diego at home. LMU stands two games ahead of San Francisco in the WCC standings at 7-3. The Lions are still tied with the BYU Cougars.

The Dons are led by Angelo Caloiaro, who is averaging 14.4 points per game, but lit up the Lions for 26 the last time the two teams met. Lions forward Ashley Hamilton was not available in the New Years Eve game, so LMU will have more offensive weapons this time around. Hamilton, however, struggled in Thursday's win over Pepperdine.

The final game of this four-game homestand for LMU tips off Saturday at 7 p.m. The game can be seen live on lmulions.com. 

Balanced attack leads to 67-57 win over Waves

It wasn't pretty, but LMU pulled out at 67-57 win over Pepperdine tonight to sweep the two-game season series for the first time since 1996. Jarred DuBois and LaRon Armstead led the way with 14 points each and the Lions improved to 7-3 in conference play.

The game was not exactly well-played by the Lions, who found themselves out-rebounded by a struggling Waves team, but a win was must-needed for LMU, who is looking to keep pace with BYU in the conference standings. BYU thumped Gonzaga by ten points tonight to remain tied with LMU in the WCC. A win is now just as important for the Lions Saturday, as they host San Francisco at 7 p.m.

A few things to note, however, from tonight's game:

• Senior LaRon Armstead went 6-6 from the free throw line, and is shooting nearly 90 percent from the charity stripe on the season. That mark is good enough to put him in the top-25 in the nation in that category.
• Drew Viney finished the game with nine points on 4-6 from the field. If the Lions want to win a game in Vegas, Drew's passiveness isn't going to fly. Tonight, he didn't score the final 19:37 of the game, going 0-2 during that period.
• Anthony Ireland was 3-12 from the floor and finished with nine points. His value to the team is undeniable, even when he doesn't shoot well, but it is fascinating how much better he shoots on the road than at home in Gersten.
• Alex Osborne had a nice game, and again was impressive on the defensive end with a game-high four steals. I wonder how long it'll be before he replaces Godwin Okonji in the starting rotation.

LMU looks to build home win streak

After escaping with a victory over Portland on Saturday, the Lions will now look to keep that momentum alive when they host Pepperdine Thursday. LMU is looking to sweep its series vs. Pepperdine for the first time since 1996.

The Lions are currently tied with BYU for third place in the West Coast Conference, but the two schools are only a game and a half in front of surging San Francisco, who is set to visit Gersten Pavilion on Saturday. LMU must continue to beat the teams below itself in the standings if it wants to secure a favorable seed in the WCC Tournament, which is now less than one month away.

Since losing to the Lions on Jan. 12, Pepperdine has gone 1-4, beating Santa Clara at home this past weekend but losing to San Francisco, Saint Mary's, BYU and San Diego. A loss to the Waves would definitely be a blemish on what has so far been a very solid conference season for the Lions.

Thursday's game tips off at 7:30 p.m., and can be seen live on Fox Sports Prime Ticket or lmulions.com.