Despite controversy, end of Teel's career should be honored

Flashback to Nov. 21, 2008: There's a sellout and record-setting crowd of 4,534 in Gersten Pavilion, much because brand new Head Coach Bill Bayno is set to coach his first game on the bluff. Bayno, however, is nowhere to be seen. Despite the confusion in the building about where "the savior" of our program is, the 0-3 Lions are hosting No. 8 Notre Dame, a big task any year. But despite never holding a lead, LMU hangs in throughout the game. With a starting lineup of Ashley Hamilton, Marco Deric, Kevin Young, Jarred DuBois and Kevin Young, the misfit Lions are down only four with five minutes to play.

The energy in the building was different than it had been in years, with lofty expectations set for the program with an NBA-worthy head coach at the helm. The players can sense the transition, and one in particular is willing to do whatever it takes to meet these new expectations set by the 4,534 in the building.

In just the fourth game of his Lion career, then-redshirt sophomore Vernon Teel is the Lions' leading scorer and rebounder after three games. But after a bad-step midway through the first half, he heads to the bench in obvious pain. Not wanting to leave the court in such an important game, he returns, and with ten minutes to play pulls down a huge offensive board and scores, pulling the underdog-Lions to within one. He plays just three minutes the remainder of the game; Teel has a broken foot.

“He told [the trainer] to tape it up and days later he ended up having to have a screw put in his foot,” Head Coach Max Good told me last season. “There’s no doubt about it, Vernon will compete.”

With the timing and severity of his injury, a medical redshirt could have been in the cards for Teel, who ended up appearing in only 16 games in the 2008/09 season. But watching his team struggle mightily on the court, Teel felt he had to come back.

“I was just trying to make our team better,” Teel said to me last season when asked about his decision not to sit out the remainder of that year. “It wasn’t about me getting another year, it was about the team and making us better. I didn’t want us to win just one game the whole year. I told Coach Good that I wanted to come back and play. I felt like I started the year with the team, I wanted to end the year with the team.”

In the Lions first conference win of the season, Teel narrowly missed a tripe-double, going for 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. The Lions would go just 3-28 on the season.

There were turnovers. There were missed free throws. But in Teel's LMU career there was always the heart of a Lion. There is nobody who played harder for the LMU these past three years, and who stepped up to so many different challenges asked of him. Teel deserves nothing but applause and respect from Lions fans, and I am disappointed that is not what he received this season.

Teel would be the first to admit that this season wasn't what he had hoped it would be, both for himself personally and the team, but if you watched him play the one thing Teel never lacked was effort. Considering Lions fans envisioned a starting lineup of Jarred DuBois, Vernon Teel, Drew Viney, Ashley Hamilton and Edgar Garibay this year, it is easy to see why Teel, at times, felt he had to carry the weight of the team on his shoulders. By mid-season, the rest of the starting lineup wore street clothes more often than not, and instead of being able to be the facilitator that led us to a turnaround season just one year ago, he was instead forced to change his game to fit the team's needs, and attempt to lead a stagnant offense. While it didn't always provide winning results, I thank Teel for stepping up when everyone else was down.

What happened at the end of the season happened, and I respect the coaches for making the decision they felt they had to make. But Vernon played with emotion and passion that was unmatched by any other Lion, and the mistakes he made were reflective of that. In the end, he finished the last three years with more points (1,140), minutes (2,566), games played (80) and assists (353) than any other LMU player during that span. He will be missed on the court next season, and as a Lion fan I wish him the best.

Disappointing news breaks after great win

I wasn't able to post after last night's exhilartating win, but to say it was a great moment would be an understatement. One of Head Coach Max Good's comments from the press conference sums it up: "I think everybody who played in the game made a major contribution," he said.

The win was trully a team win. Drew Viney led the offense with 25 points, but didn't score in the final ten minutes of the game. Larry Davis played spotty minutes, but came up huge to close out the game with the Lions final four points. Ashley Hamilton pulled down an offensive rebound with 25 seconds to play that may have been the play of the game. And Vernon Teel played one of his best games of the season, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds, five assits and just two turnovers.

But breaking news this morning dampens the celebratory feeling. According to The Los Angeles Loyolan, Teel has been kicked off the team due to conduct detrimental to the team. His NCAA Division-I basketball career is over. You can read the full Loyolan story here.

As someone who hasn't heard much more than is in that story, here are some facts from the past 15 or so hours.

• Vernon didn't start yesterday's game, but did play 26 minutes. He started 23 of the team's 30 games this season.
• With the game tied down the stretch, Vernon was pulled with about two minutes remaining.
• After the game, a tweet coming from Vernon Teel's twitter account referenced "being hot" and upset with Asst. Coach Levy. His twitter account has since been deactivated.

I am in no way stating that these three factors had anything to do with Teel's dismissal, just sharing the facts. Vernon's attitude during the game last night seemed positive as always. Despite not starting, Vernon was coaching freshman point guard Anthony Ireland from the bench early in the game. Even when being pulled late his demeanor still seemed positive/excited as the Lions pulled out the victory.

Good released the following statement to ESPN. ""This was an internal decision that we felt was best for our team and our program," Loyola Marymount coach Max Good said in a statement. "This was strictly based on internal issues and was not attributed to behavior in or around the WCC tournament."

The Lions play their second-round game today against Santa Clara at 6 p.m. Vernon Teel's absence will negatively affect the Lions on the court, as he was definitely a positive factor yesterday, but they can win without him, especially with Larry Davis back in the lineup. I will live chat beginning at 5:45 p.m. with live game news and Vernon Teel updates as they come.

Three Lions honored with conference awards

Three Lions were honored today by the West Coast Conference as it announced its end of the season conference awards. Freshman Anthony Ireland was named to the WCC All-Freshman team, while Drew Viney and Vernon Teel were both named to the Honorable Mention team. Both Viney and Teel were on last season's All-WCC First Team.

Ireland is averaging 10.1 points per game, second best in the league among freshmen. He is also eighth in the league in assists per game at 3.1. The Lions have now placed someone on the All-Freshmen team three years in a row, with Ashley Hamilton being named last year and Jarred DuBois being named the year before.

Viney is tied for second in the league in scoring, with 16.8 ppg, and was obviously hurt by the fact that the Lions finished the season just 2-12 when it comes to the conference awards. He also missed two and a half games due to migraines.

Teel stuffed the stat sheet once again this season, averaging 12.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game in his final season.

Saint Mary's Mickey McConnell won Player of the Year while his Head Coach Randy Bennett won Coach of the Year.

LMU holds on for narrow victory over Pepperdine

Drew Viney led the Lions with 21 points | Julia Pine

It wasn't pretty, and yet again the Lions blew a 14-point lead, but this time the outcome was different, as LMU held on for a three-point 82-79 victory over Pepperdine in the final home game of the season. Drew Viney returned after missing three games and made an immediate impact for the Lions, leading the team in points and rebounds with 21 and seven, respectively.

Vernon Teel honored before the game

LMU jumped out to a 14-point lead midway through the second half before letting Pepperdine's Mychel Thompson and Lorne Jackson go on an offensive explosion. Thompson ended the game with 29 points, but his last second three at the buzzer bounced off the rim, securing the victory for the Lions.

LMU is now 2-10 in WCC play. Down South, San Diego pulled off a shocking upset over WCC-leading Saint Mary's to also improve to 2-10.

Griffin Reilly honored before the game

Tonight's game was Senior Night at LMU, as Vernon Teel, Larry Davis, and walk-on Griffin Reilly were honored before the game. Davis sat out the entire game due to illness, but both Teel and Reilly got the start. Teel finished the game, his last in Gersten Pavilion, with 11 points and four assists. He also knocked down two crucial free throws in the final minute of play to help LMU secure the victory.

Anthony Ireland, Ayodeji Egbeyemi, and LaRon Armstead joined Teel and Viney in double-figure scoring.

Larry Davis, with his mother,
being honored before the game

Ashley Hamilton, who had 19 points in the Lions loss to Pepperdine earlier this season, sat out the game due to illness. The L.A.-rivals split their series for the second time in two years, with the home team winning four of the last four contests.

The Lions will now take a break from WCC play to participate in ESPN's BracketBuster event. LMU will travel to Portland State on Saturday. The game starts at 4 p.m. and Lions fans can listen live on LMULions.com.

Senior Night approaches as Lions seek win over rivals

The final game of the home season is upon us, as the Lions host the Pepperdine Waves tomorrow night. The Lions, who are 1-10 in conference play, will try to get a win for seniors Vernon Teel and Larry Davis, who will be playing in their final game at Gersten Pavilion.

The Waves enter with a conference record of 5-6, and pulled out a victory despite trailing by four with 2:25 to play. Since playing the Lions, Pepperdine said goodbye to leading-scorer Keoin Bell, who was suspended from play for the remainder of the 2011 season for conduct detrimental to the team.

The Lions received a great game from redshirt sophomore Ashley Hamilton in the team's first matchup against the Waves, as the power forward went 7-7 from the field for a team-high 19 points. Neither Drew Viney nor Vernon Teel started that game, but both made significant contributions in the loss. Viney had 17 points while Teel had a game-high nine assists and 13 points.

LMU will look to pick up some momentum before the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas, with only three games left on the conference schedule.

The game tips off at 8 p.m., and all fans in attendance will receive bobble-head dolls courtesy of The Los Angeles Loyolan.

It's time for the players to create change

I haven't posted on my blog in a awhile. I'd like to see it's because I started a new job and I've been to busy, but that would just be an excuse. The real reason is because I'm finding it hard not to sound like a broken record.

The Lions loss to Pepperdine last weekend was the low point to an already disappointing season. LMU hasn't won in Malibu since the 1998-99 season, just making it even more difficult to feel like the Lions have made any progress over the past few years. This year was supposed to be different. This year this team was supposed to go places. It turns out the only place they've gone this season is further down the WCC standings.

But at this point, any speculation about poor team chemistry, what-ifs about the previous game, and even suggestions on what aspects of the game the team needs to improve upon just make all us fans sound like a broken record. We've said it all.

The Los Angeles Clippers began this season with a dismal 1-13 record. Since Dec. 17, however, they have gone on an impressive 12-6 streak (which began at 12-4 before losing their leading scorer to injury). According to the team, the turnaround happened non-coincidentally shortly after a players-only team meeting on a bus. At the time, many considered the Clippers to be the worst team in the NBA. In the meeting the players discussed "having pride and stepping up." That night they earned their first road win of the season, and have since gone on an impressive tear.

The season is not over for LMU. There is a tremendous amount of talent on this year's squad, and most notably that is led by Drew Viney and Vernon Teel, WCC First Team selections from less than one year ago. It honestly doesn't matter who does it, but someone on this team needs to step up like the Clippers did. These players needs to be sick of playing below their abilities, and start addressing their lack of team chemistry. These players need to want to win, and they need to want to win as a team, something I didn't specifically see in the closing seconds of the loss to Pepperdine.

I still believe this team can win any game they step onto the court for, I have just lost expectations each game day that that is going to happen. Let's hope the Lions pleasantly surprise me in a tough WCC-contest tonight against San Francisco. Go Lions!

Lions hope to turn tides against Waves

Senior Vernon Teel will look to turnaround a rough road trip | Julia Pine

LMU will hit the road tomorrow night for their rivalry game against the Pepperdine Waves in what many feel is a must-win game for the Lions. Winning in Malibu has been a challenge for the Lions, as they have not been able to beat Pepperdine on the road in over ten years. Both teams enter Saturday's game with a 1-3 conference record.

For LMU, tomorrow's game is the last of a three-game road trip in which the Lions are currently 0-2 after losing a double OT heart-breaker in Portland and getting beat badly in the second half by Gonzaga.

The Lions offensive leader on the road trip has been Drew Viney, who in the two games scored a combined 42 points. Guard Vernon Teel, on the other hand, has hit a cold patch shooting wise, going just 2-16 from the floor up north.

For Pepperdine, they have been led all season by Keion Bell, who despite missing five games is leading the team with 19.3 points per game. The Waves have struggled so far this year, posting just a 7-14 overall record. Pepperdine is coming off of three straight losses, coming at the hands of Gonzaga, St. Mary's and Portland, the three same teams that have topped LMU this conference season.

With yesterday's upsets of both Gonzaga and Portland, six of the eight teams in the WCC are separated by two games or less, making tomorrow's match-up even more crucial for the Lions. The game tips off at 7 p.m.

I vote for a Teel/Ireland position swap

Freshman Anthony Ireland has become a scorer for the Lions' offense | Courtesy of Facebook

Freshman Anthony Ireland is rapidly becoming one of the most important pieces to this Lions' team. He is LMU's second leading scorer in conference play and has showed incredible poise for a freshman during crunch time of close games.

However, I don't think Head Coach Max Good and the Lions are really using Ireland to the best of his abilities. In recent games, it's become apparent that Ireland is a pure shooter with great three-point range. However, he's currently running the point, and therefore is limited in his open-shot opportunities.

I looked back at Ireland's high school basketball stats, and in high school he was a true scorer, even scoring 40 points in one game. It's time for Ireland to fit that role for LMU, and to do that he and senior guard Vernon Teel need to switch roles.

Putting Teel in the point guard spot wouldn't be weird by any stretch of the imagination. He still runs the point now when Ireland is on the bench, and he ran the point all of last season when he helped lead the Lions to their greatest season in years. I know Good probably moved Teel off the ball to limit his turnovers, which can definitely get a little high, but that also removes Teel from doing what he does best; facilitating the basketball and setting up his teammates.

Teel recently went 0-10 in the team's loss to Portland, and shot three ill advised three-pointers. As the ESPN2 announcers kept repeating, Teel hasn't knocked down a three-point shot since November 20. However, he's primarily playing the shooting guard position. Our shooting guard doesn't have an outside shot? Recipe for disaster.

The Lions are a much better team when Teel is dishing out assists, not being asked upon to score. Sure, he will get his points driving to the basket from time to time, but last season Teel was up around the nation's leaders in assists per game, and this year that is just not the case.

Ireland's strength seems to be scoring, while Teel's strength seems to be dishing out passes. Seems clear to me who should be running the point and who should be open on the wing for a three. But, I'm in the stands not on the bench.

Some updates after the Gonzaga game

Vernon Teel played only 13 minutes in the Lions game against Gonzaga | Courtesy of Facebook

Just read on The Spokesman-Review web site that Vernon Teel didn't start in the Gonzaga game due to a sore knee. LMU had not released anything on why Teel hadn't started, but I was worried it was due to the technical foul he received down the stretch of the Portland game, which I would have found hypocritical since Head Coach Max Good received one as well.

Teel, who is averaging 32.6 minutes per game, played only 13 in the Lions game against Portland. Freshman Ayodeji Egbeyemi started in his place.

Teel went 2-6 in the game, scoring six points and pulling in four rebounds. Teel is averaging eight rebounds per game from a guard position through the team's first four conference games.

The article also had a few quotes from Gonzaga about the Lions. It's always good to know what opposing coaches and players think of LMU. Here are some highlights:

• “I don’t know if you invite [the Lions to shoot from outside], but they’re just drivers, drivers, drivers,” Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Few said. “That’s how they get themselves to the line. We did a decent job in the second half of being in the gaps and shoring that up.”
• “They’re very, very talented,” Bulldogs guard David Stockton said. “It just depends on which team shows up to the gym. They’ve had some struggles, injuries have hurt them, but they’re more than capable of beating good teams.”
• “They have a lot of belief,” Bulldogs senior Steven Gray said. “They have a lot of good players and they have a lot of confidence and freedom. That’s what makes them so dangerous.”

It is nice to see that a team as talented as Gonzaga has that kind of respect for the Lions. I am assuming Teel will be back in the starting lineup Saturday against Pepperdine, but will update if I hear anything to the contrary.

Here's to hoping that was the turning point

Last night's showdown on ESPN2 turned out to be one hell've a basketball game. Lead changes, intensified defense in the closing minutes, clutch shooting; this game had it all. Unfortuntely for the Lions, they came out on the losing end of things in a game that really could have gone either way.

But considering how tough this season has been thus far, last night's game was important for both the Lions and their fans. LMU proved that they can still compete for a top-4 spot in the WCC standings.

The most important part of last night's game was the fact that the Lions played the best defense they had all season, and they played that defense against a strong offensive team. There is no reason the Lions shouldn't be able to bring that kind of defensive intensity to every game. LMU had 11 steals and five blocks in the contest.

It is easy to point the finger at certain individuals for last night's loss, and the message boards are already having fun placing blame, but when you watch last night's game you'll see that almost everyone on the team made valuable contributions that the team could not have lived without, but also made some mental errors that hurt the Lions chances. Vernon Teel and Edgar Garibay both missed key free throws down the stretch, but both also were the only Lions making free throws during the bulk of the game. Drew Viney would have been the hero if the Lions had won, and deservedly so, as he hit the two biggest shots of the Lions season despite the loss, but was seemingly absent in the first half. The list could go on and on, but the important part is that that game was lost by the Lions as a team, but also kept close by the Lions as a team.

Both technical fouls were unfortunate (committed by Head Coach Max Good and Vernon Teel), and I expect better from Teel when it comes to keeping his composure on the court. I hope this was a good learning experience.

Overall, considering I was worried about the Lions getting embarrassingly blown out on national television, I am so pleased with last night's game. Let's hope it wasn't a fluke, and that tomorrow's game against Gonzaga is just as competitive. If we can keep things competitive against Gonzaga, St. Mary's (next time) and Gonzaga, then a fourth seed (and first-round bye at the WCC Tournament) should be in our future.

Talk about a heart-breaker, Lions fall to Pilots in double OT

Drew Viney had 24 points in the loss | Courtesy of Facebook

The Lions lost a heart-breaker in Portland tonight, falling to the Pilots 79-78 in double OT. LMU finished regulation on a 9-2 run to force OT, but poor free throw shooting and a questionable foul call cost the Lions the game in the end. The Lions fall to 1-2 in WCC play while the Pilots improve to 1-1.

Junior Drew Viney, who had been seemingly absent for LMU for two and a half games, turned things around in the second half tonight, knocking down two huge three-pointers to keep the Lions in the game and scoring 20 of his 24 points. With his team down by one with five seconds to play, Viney received the ball out of a timeout and burried a three from the corner to give LMU a 60-58 lead. The entire LMU team, however, failed to get back on defense, and redshirt freshman Edgar Garibay fouled Portland's Jared Stohl with two seconds to play. He knocked down both free throws to send the game into overtime.

In overtime, freshman Anthony Ireland made his presence known, scoring five points in the first overtime period including burying a deep three. Garibay had a chance to help the Lions take the lead late in OT, stepping to the free throw line with his team down by one and 20 seconds on the clock. After missing the first one, Garibay tied the game at 66 on the second, and LMU played solid defense for the final 19 seconds, sending the game into its second overtime period.

After the two teams exchanged baskets to start double OT, senior Vernon Teel had a mental lapse, earning himself a technical foul and giving the Pilots two shots and the ball, after missing two of two free throws himself. Teel had been a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe prior to the technical.

It was the Lions second technical of the game, as Head Coach Max Good had been called for one late in regulation. It led to two Portland points.

Settling back in, the Lions found themselves down by four with 23 seconds to play, after Tim Douglas from Portland failed to extend his team's lead to five by making just one of two free throws. Again Viney showed up in the clutch, trailing Teel down the court and receiving the pass and shooting a long three in rhythm. He banked it in to bring the score to 76-75 in favor of the home team.

After another splits at the free throw line from Douglas, Viney attempted a three from the corner with ten seconds to play, but the ball went in and out. Teel was then called for his fifth foul of the game, on an extremely questionable call, and Stohl iced the game with two free throws with five seconds to play.

Ireland knocked down a three at the buzzer, but it was too little too late.

For Viney, it was his best game in weeks, as he paced all players with 24 points. Teel had the worst shooting night of his career, going 0-10 from the field, but did pull down a game high 11 rebounds and dish out a game high five assists. Ireland contributed 15 points.

The game marked the return for Ashley Hamilton, who had missed four weeks after breaking his hand. He had five points, nine rebounds and four steals.

The Lions weekend doesn't get any easier, as they will travel to Spokane, Wash. and take on powerhouse Gonzaga on Saturday. Gonzaga is 2-0 in conference play after a win over Pepperdine tonight. The game tips off early at 5 p.m.

Big second half, Teel's double-double lead Lions past Toreros

Vernon Teel led the Lions in points, rebounds and assists in the win | Courtesy of Facebook

Outscoring the Toreros by ten in the second half, the Lions evened up their WCC record tonight after a 67-58 victory. Senior guard Vernon Teel led LMU with his fifth double-double of the season, contributing a team-high 16 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. He also went a 8-9 from the free throw line.

The Lions evened their season record at 8-8 and their WCC record at 1-1. University of San Diego fell to 0-2 in conference play.

Freshman Anthony Ireland and junior Drew Viney also reached double-figures for the Lions, scoring 15 points and 10 points, respectively.

The Lions picked it up after a lackluster first half in which they allowed themselves to get outrebounded by three. They trailed by one at the break. In the second half, LMU outrebounded San Diego 26-13.

"In the first half it seemed like we were trying hard, but not working hard," said Head Coach Max Good in a press release after the game. "I know it sounds like a contradiction, but we had good intent, but we weren't working hard to get the result we wanted. In the second half we worked hard on the glass and it paid off in the end." 

LMU shared the ball well in the game, picking up assists on 15 of the team's 20 made baskets.

Up next, the Lions will head out on what might be the toughest road trip of the season, taking on Portland on Thursday and WCC-powerhouse Gonzaga on Saturday. Thursday's game can be seen on ESPN2 and tips off at 8 p.m. Portland is 0-1 in WCC play after falling to Gonzaga tonight.

Lions no match for reigning WCC Champs

Larry Davis had 18 points in the Lions' loss to the Gaels | Courtesy of Facebook

The Lions were picked to finish higher than the Gaels in the 2010 WCC Preseason Coaches Poll but didn't play like it tonight, falling 98-75 to open West Coast Conference play. Six Gaels scored in double figures in the game, including two who had over 20 points (Rob Jones and Mickey McConnell). LMU was led by Vernon Teel with 19 points and Larry Davis with 18.

LMU was unable to stop Saint Mary's offense, which is fourth in the nation in field goal percentage and ninth in points per game. The Gaels made an astonishing 13 of their 16 field goal attempts, and had 56 points at the half.They shot 61 percent as a team in the game.

Both teams made it rain from beyond the arc, with the Gaels pouring in 11 three-pointers in the contest. The Lions made a season high seven threes, three by freshman Ayodeji Egbeyemi.

Leading scorer Drew Viney had four points, his lowest scoring total of the season, on 2-7 from the field. Viney, who is averaging over seven rebounds a game, pulled down just two boards. As a team the Lions outrebounded the Gaels 34-31, led by Larry Davis' seven.

LMU drops to 7-8 on the season while Saint Mary's improves to 13-2. The Gaels only two losses this season both came at the hands of top-25 teams.

The Lions will take on USD at home on Saturday. The Toreros lost to Pepperdine tonight in the only other WCC action of the evening. Saturday's game tips off at 7 p.m.

No rest for the weary

Vernon Teel had a quiet 20 points in Thursday's win over Irvine | Courtesy of Facebook

The Lions WCC schedule starts off with a bang, as LMU will face St. Mary's, Gonzaga and Portland (the conference's three best teams so far this season) in three of its first four games of 2011. With the way the Lions have been playing recently, it looks like they will begin conference play 1-3 if they don't turn things around quickly.

In the Lions victory over UC Irvine last Thursday, we fans saw more of the same lackluster play that we've seen all season long. After playing a decent first half, in which the Lions earned an eight-points lead while holding the Anteater shooters to just 38 percent overall and 21 percent from beyond the arc, LMU fans again saw a confusing Lions team in the second period.

At first, it looked like the Lions were poised to play their best half of basketball on the season. In less than six minutes, LMU pushed their eight-point lead to 19, and was moving the ball extremely well on offense.Things seemed to be clicking, but as soon as I looked down at my phone and read a text from my friend that said "Why do we look so great this half ... I'm getting too excited for conference play now," it seemed that the Lions self-destructed once again. In less than five minutes the 19-point lead was back down to eight, and then to make things worse, with just under five minutes left in the contest LMU and Irvine were locked in a close four-point game.

I give the Lions, and especially Anthony Ireland's free throw shooting, credit for pulling out the victory down the stretch, but it worries me that the game even had to get to that point. If we are fortunate enough to build a large lead against a team like St. Mary's, and then happened to let it slip down to four, there is little chance we would have been able to still pull out the win. This is actually nothing new this season, but our attitude and the way we play with a lead needs to change for us to do well in WCC play.

The first thing that fell apart when we had a large lead was our offense. I know a lot of teams like to begin to run out the clock in the second period when they hold a significant advantage, but that just doesn't seem to work for us. There were too many empty possessions midway through the second half, possessions where the Lions let the shot-clock dwindle down before being forced to take an awful shot. Whatever we were doing to get the 19 points lead was working; I would have liked to see those same offensive sets continue, even with the big lead. It's not like our offense in general couldn't use the practice ...

Thursday the Lions will host a tough St. Mary's team who has begun the season 12-2. They shoot threes well and play tough defense. If the LMU team who seems to have an inability to play a full 40-minutes of solid basketball shows up to Gersten, they will get blown out by twenty points, at least.

But, and you can call me an optimist, I will not give up hope of a victory this Thursday. For starters, we finally saw the Drew Viney Lions fans know and love last week, as he put in 22 points on 7-10 shooting (although it should be noted that if Viney is on, and making 70 percent of his shots, he should have shot at least 17 times. Just saying). Viney's "pump fake - step left - shoot" move was working to perfection, so well in fact that Vernon Teel borrowed it to knock down a long two just as the shot clock was expiring late in the second half. If Viney's outside game, which I critiqued for not being on point this season just last week, is working like it did against Irvine, he can be the type of player to change the outcome of Thursday's game, as long as other people fill in their roles adequately.

Thursday's game tips off at 6 p.m., and can be seen live on ESPNU. Hope to, however, see many of you at Gersten. Go Lions.

Lions hold off Anteaters to finish non-conference play at .500

Drew Viney led the Lions with 22 points in tonight's win over Irvine | Photo taken by Julia Pine

Drew Viney again had a big game against UC Irvine (6-8), leading LMU (7-7) with 22 points and ten rebounds to an eventual 87-80 win. Five players scored in double figures for the Lions, who allowed a 19 point second-half lead dwindle down to four with just four minutes remaining. Clutch free throw shooting from Anthony Ireland pushed the lead back to eight with less than a minute to play and the Lions held on for the win, snapping a two-game losing streak.

The Lions have now finished non-conference play, and stand at an even 7-7 on the season.

Viney had his seventh double-double of the season and guard Vernon Teel had added 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Teel also went 10-13 from the free throw line. Point guard Anthony Ireland chipped in 15 points and six assists, going a perfect 6-6 from the stripe.

Larry Davis and Tim Diederichs scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Lions played without center Edgar Garibay, and center Godwin Okonji had early foul trouble, leaving LMU somewhat shorthanded in the front court. Despite playing with less size, LMU outscored UC Irvine 38-18 in the paint, and out-rebounded them 37-28.

The Lions will now have a week off to prepare for WCC play. The conference schedule starts with a bang for LMU, as they host defending WCC Tournament champs St. Mary's on Thursday. The game tips off at 6 p.m and can be seen on ESPNU.

Update: Future Lion Bruce English starting season strong

Bruce English, who signed his NLI in Novemeber to join LMU's men's basketball team next fall, is starting his senior season strong for the La Verne Lutheran boys basketball team. English most recently led the Trojans (2-1) to an opening round win on Tuesday at the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C, contributing a team-high 24 points and 13 rebounds.

The Trojans lost their second game of the tournament, but were again led by English who put in a team-high 17 points.


English is currently the only recruit committed to the Lions for the 2011 recruiting class. At the conclusion of the season the Lions will say goodbye to at least guards Vernon Teel and Larry Davis, who will have both used up their D-I eligibility, meaning there is still one roster spot open for next season.

Failing to adjust/improve plagued Lions non-conference season

The Lions have failed to make mid-game adjustments this season | Julia Pine

The Lions (6-7) last non-conference game of the season is this Thursday, as the team will face UC Irvine looking to bring their record to an even .500. Heading into this season expectations for LMU were higher than they had been in years, and with a weak non-conference schedule many (including myself) thought the Lions would have a substantially better record heading into the new year than they do now.

With as much talent as last year, if not more, on this season's roster the Lions struggles are unexpected. The team returned two First-Team All WCC players in Drew Viney and Vernon Teel, in addition to adding impressive freshman like Anthony Ireland and Godwin Okanji who have not only played well for freshman but have succeeded most expectations. Yes, the Lions have faced injury trouble again this year, but that is nothing new, and a season ago LMU was able to play through its injury trouble almost flawlessly.

For things to turnaround for conference play it is extremely important that the team's problems be examined, accepted, and hopefully corrected.So far this season, the Lions biggest problem has been failing to adjust and/or improve throughout the course of the game.

Out of LMU's seven losses this season, I would argue that there are five any Lions fan should still be pretty bitter over, especially if you take into consideration the talent of this year's team compared to last. In my humble opinion, I don't think the Lions should have lost any games other than the team's matchups against Florida State and UC Santa Barbara, games that I watched LMU play hard throughout before eventually losing to what is probably just a better team.

The season started off with a brutal home loss to Morgan State, a game in which the Lions led by four points at the half and as many as 14 mid-way through the second period. Seemingly looking content with a large lead, the Lions played with no sense of urgency or toughness down the stretch, allowing Morgan State to shoot 53 percent in the second half after holding them to just 37 percent in the first. The result was a two-point loss, and some may say props should be given to Morgan State for adjusting their offense and finding a way to attack the Lions defense.

After a win over a non-Division I team, the Lions then lost a heart-breaker to Bradley on the road, a game that was tied up at the half. With six minutes to go in the game, and the score tied at 35 (yes, scored tied at 35 in the SECOND half) the Lions failed to make any improvements, while Bradley was able to establish a lead of nine in just six minutes of play. At the final buzzer LMU fell 45-38. After playing them even for a half, you have to wonder how Bradley all of a sudden became seven-points-better in half number two. The answer seems to be that they made defensive adjustments; after having allowed the Lions to shoot 45 percent in the first half they held LMU to just 32 percent from the field in the second half.

After yet another win over another non-Division I team, the Lions dropped a road game to Rider University by ten points. Most frustrating part? LMU held a one-point lead at the half and somehow managed to get outscored by 11 in the second period. Just 11 minutes into the second half the Lions found themselves down by as many as 14. It is obvious that Rider made adjustment to its defense at halftime, as the Lions shot 50 percent in the first half and just 25 percent in the second.

The next loss for the Lions came to a poor Cal Poly team, who beat LMU 55-48. The Lions had only 21 points at the half, and found themselves down by six. LMU never led in the second half, and this loss had nothing to do with failing to adjust or improve. This was flat out the Lions worst game of the season. They played with little energy, and didn't look like they cared to win.

Then, the Lions gave all LMU fans some hope, when they went on a 4-1 stretch including an OT win over Long Beach State. The one loss? A hardfought one against UC Santa Barbara in a game in which the Lions were missing four scholarship players, including three starters.

But just as many of us thought things had turned around, with three straight wins and then a tough showing against Florida State, the Lions dropped a road game against South Dakota by 12 points, a game in which the Lions were winning by SEVEN at the half. Instead of looking to increase that lead to double-digits, LMU instead let the home team go on a 7-0 run to open the half. The result was a tie game just 2.5 minutes after the half. The Lions were outscored by 19 in the second half, and this time it was the result of  either offensive adjustments by South Dakota or a defensive letdown by the Lions, as South Dakota shot 33 percent in the opening period and 55 percent in the closing one.

Some may think it is counter-productive to dwell on these losses, but it's not. If the Lions can't go into the locker room at halftime and figure out a way to attack a team better then they aren't going to win many conference games. Opposing teams are clearly studying the Lions weaknesses at the half, and then making adjustments to exploit them, and LMU needs to do the same.

The blame here can be pointed at Head Coach Max Good and his coaching staff, or even at the players, but placing blame isn't going solve anything. Instead, either Good and his staff, or the players themselves, need to take it upon themselves to make these mid-game adjustments. A seven point halftime lead should never disappear in two minutes, no matter what team you face and especially against a sub par team like South Dakota.

There is one more non-conference game yet and honestly, it doesn't mean much of anything to the Lions. Having already blown their chance at any sort of at-large bid, the Lions last hope for some postseason action depends solely on how they do in conference play and at the WCC Tournament in March. However, I hope LMU takes this next game against Irvine as an opportunity to try and make positive halftime adjustments. If the Lions hold a halftime lead of five, they shouldn't be happy unless they win the game by ten, as that would still show that the opponent made more of a halftime adjustment, but one that the Lions were able to fight off.

I'm a sports optimist, as I wrote here almost one year ago, and I haven't given up on this team yet. I believe if the Lions can win a half, they can win the game, and I hope to see that more times than not when conference play begins Jan. 6.

More disappointment as non-conference season winds down

Anthony Ireland had 10 points, all in the first half, for LMU on Wednesday | Julia Pine

LMU dropped its contest to South Dakota last night by a final score of 82-70; a very disappointing game for the Lions who were coming off of a 3-1 stretch in which the team's only loss came to a very strong Florida State team. The Lions lost to a South Dakota team they beat less than ten days ago, despite receiving a poor game form leading scorer Drew Viney.

Tonight's game started off much like the last one against the Coyotes did, with Viney struggling to find his shot and the Lions offense coming almost entirely from guards Vernon Teel and Anthony Ireland, both of whom finished the first half with ten points each. Unfortunately, neither could find the basket much at all in the second half, as Ireland failed to score a point and Teel contributed only four. Teel did finish the game with another double-double, putting in 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Lions offense in the second half came almost exclusively from Viney, who finally found his shot after a couple of off games. Viney finished the night 7-16 from the floor with 16 points and seven rebounds. Fifteen of Viney's 16 points were scored in the second half.

Larry Davis rounded out the Lions' in double figures with 12 points of his own.

The problem for LMU, once again, was their defensive intensity in the second half. After holding the Coyotes to just 33 percent shooting in the first half of play the Lions then got lit up in the second half, letting South Dakota shoot 53 percent from the field and 50 percent from three point range.

The Lions, who led by as many as eight points late in the first half, again watched a lead disappear into a loss.

At this point, LMU's ability to adjust during a game needs to be examined. There have been too many games lost that were seemingly winnable at halftime, and it just seems like the other teams are making better adjustments. Whether this is something that should be looked at by the coaching staff, players, or in my opinion both, doesn't really matter, the thing is it needs to addressed quickly.

LMU is now 6-7 on the season, and will have one final chance to enter conference play with a .500 record when they travel to take on UC Irvine on Dec. 30.

Lions hope to sweep season series against South Dakota

Vernon Teel plays tight defense Saturday night against Florida State | Julia Pine

The Lions head out on the road tomorrow to take on a South Dakota team they beat 72-67 in Gersten Pavilion just two weeks ago. LMU is coming off of a double-digit loss to Florida State, but I expect them to be able to handle the Coyotes again.

In the last matchup between the two teams, the Lions received massive games from guards Anthony Ireland and Vernon Teel, while surviving off nights from both Drew Viney and Larry Davis. I wouldn't expect those two to be held down again, so if Ireland and Teel can contribute even half the points they did last time the Lions should be able to pull out the win.

Since playing the Lions, South Dakota have however gone 2-0, beating Tabor College and Eastern Washington.

LMU played well also though in its lone game since facing the Coyotes, hanging tight with a tough Florida State team into the final minutes of the game. Saturday night also saw the return of Edgar Garibay, who despite playing limited minutes looked pretty good on the court and showed off his long range on a sweet 18-foot jumper. Garibay is going to be an important piece of the puzzle for the Lions, especially while Ashley Hamilton is out. The Seminoles beat up LMU's interior defense pretty bad Saturday night, so look for that to be something the team works on before conference play begins.

Tomorrow's game begins at 5 p.m.

Streaking Lions set to face biggest test

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.