SportsScope : Loyola to Get a Look at Cage Prospects Against Hungarians

Loyola Marymount University will play host to the Hungarian national basketball team at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in a pre-season game. The Lions, in their second year under Coach Paul Westhead, are coming off their most successful season in a decade, 19-11 with an appearance in the National Invitation Tournament.

The Lions return their starting front line. However, it’s not entirely accurate to say that line is intact. Center Vic Lazzaretti injured his foot over the weekend and may be out four weeks. Forward Mike Yoest, the top returning scorer, has a sprained ankle and may not play. The other forward, Mark Armstrong, has tendinitis in a knee but is playing. And guard Enoch Simmons is back after arthroscopy on his knee but isn’t at full strength. If Yoest doesn’t start, veteran Darryl Carter will fill in. Another senior, Dennis Vogel, will start at guard.

The game will provide a look at Loyola’s new faces, including 6-9 junior college transfer John Veargason at center and Brigham Young University transfer Chris Nikchevich at point guard. Freshman guard Jeff Fryer, who is being counted on as an outside shooter, led Orange County in scoring as a high school senior last season. There are also two tall freshmen up front, 6-8 Jeff Roscoe from Washington and 6-8 Marcus Slater from nearby Banning High.

The Hungarian team, which plays at Whittier College tonight and at Fresno State next Wednesday, features 6-7, 28-year-old Tamas Kiss, a veteran of more than 150 international games, and 6-9, 21-year-old Miklos Karagits at forward and 6-11, 23-year-old Jozsef Varga at center.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s and women’s soccer teams completed successful seasons, though both were disappointed not to make post-season play. The men finished 12-7-1 and tied for second place in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. at 7-3, their best finish since 1982. They were ranked 14th in Division II last week. Senior Glenn Strachan finished with 34 points on 13 goals and eight assists.

The women, who were ranked as high as 10th, finished 15-1-2, the second-best winning percentage in the country, and were 7-1-2 against Division I opponents. In only their third season, the Lady Toros scored 62 goals while allowing just 14. They return 11 players next year, including forward Robyn Queen, who finished with 21 goals and 10 assists for 52 points, and midfielders Michele Salas (five goals, eight assists) and Kristine White (six goals, seven assists).

The Loyola Marymount women’s volleyball team, in first place in the West Coast Athletic Conference, travels to the University of Nevada-Reno for a WCAC match Friday night. The Lions, 20-6 overall and 8-1 in the WCAC, are led by senior setter Andrea Fort, who was named WCAC player of the week for the third time this season. She had 56 assists in Loyola’s five-game victory over Pepperdine last week to boost the Lions into first place. It is the first time Pepperdine has not held at least a tie for first place in the two-years of conference play. The Lions return home Saturday to play Northern Arizona University in a non-league match at 7:30 p.m.