Same story, different night

LMU fans walked out of Gersten Pavilion last night with a sense of de ja vu, after the Lions played a strong opponent very tough in the first half, fell down by double-digits in the second half, and then made a strong run in the final minutes before finally losing 73-65.

New to the West Coast Conference, BYU entered Gersten with a 12-4 record, 1-1 in WCC play. Reigning WCC Player of the Week got off to a hot start, scoring six points in the first three minutes of play. LMU made some adjustments, however, and cooled the forward down, holding him to just 11 points in the remaining 37 minutes. LMU could not hold down Noah Harstock, however, who an impressive 9-12 from the field to finish with 21 points.

The Lions got off to a hot start of their own last night, pulling out to an eight-point lead midway through the first period after back-to-back jumpers from freshman C.J. Blackwell. A strong run by the visiting Cougars, however, had both teams entering the locker room squared at 34 at the half.

BYU made multiple attempts to pull away from LMU in the second half but the Lions did just enough to stay close. Despite shooting just 34 percent in the game and 19 percent from beyond the arc, LMU found itself in a four-point game with just seven minutes remaining. However, the offense began to struggle to find any sort of shot, and Harstock rattled off three straight baskets to give his team an 11-point lead.

Always a team to add some late-game drama, LMU made it interesting again down by 12 with 2:08 left on the clock. However, after tough end-of-the-game work from Anthony Ireland, who finished with a team-high 21 points, and Alex Osborne, who finished with a team-high 11 rebounds, the Lions managed to get within two points of BYU with 44 seconds left but nothing closer.

Drew Viney, playing in his third-straight game, contributed 13 points for the Lions, 10 of which came in the first half. The forward struggled from the field in the second half, and finished the game just 4-14 from the field. It was a pattern for LMU, who also received a 5-15 night from Jarred DuBois and an 0-7 night from Ayodeji Egbeyemi.

The Lions, who are now 1-1 in conference play, will travel down to San Diego Saturday to take on the Toreros. Game is set for 6 p.m. The University of San Diego is coming off of a tough loss to powerhouse Saint Mary's, losing by just six points.

Lions hit road hoping to turn tide

After an exciting win at UCLA to start the season, the Lions have now lost to straight home games to Middle Tennessee State and Harvard. While neither are awful loses (both teams currently find themselves among the top-25 mid-major programs), it is important for the Lions to get back in the win column. The team left earlier this morning on a flight for Idaho, as it will take on Idaho State tomorrow at 6:05 PT.

It looks like Ashley Hamilton, who injured his foot in Saturday's game against Harvard, will sit out tomorrow's contest. This is a huge blow to the already-struggling Lions offense, who has yet to find a consistent groove this season. Hamilton was by far the Lions MVP through the 2+ games he played in, and the only player that seemed to have the ability to consistently score. Without him and Drew Viney on the court, it puts even more pressure on Anthony Ireland and Jarred DuBois to contribute the bulk of the scoring, both from inside and out.

One bright spot from Saturday's loss was the appearance of Alex Osborne, who was forced to sit out the first two games of the season due to NCAA regulations. In his 13 minutes of play, Osborne went 3-3 from the field, ending the game with six points, one rebound and one block. Hopefully Osborne can continue to show that sort of offensive production tomorrow, when the Lions will really need it.

While tomorrow's game should be an easy win for the Lions, it is exactly the sort of game the program has been known to use in the past. I hope the team doesn't take the brief roadtrip lightly, and can return home for Thanksgiving with a .500 record.

The game can be viewed live online here.