Loyola to Play Host Tonight to CS Long Beach

Loyola Marymount’s basketball team will attempt to halt Cal State Long Beach’s three-game winning streak tonight at 7:30 at Loyola’s Gersten Pavilion.

Loyola has won three of its four games--its best start in 10 years--with its only loss to fifth-ranked Iowa at Iowa City. Long Beach (4-2) has suddenly clicked after a 1-2 start, having defeated Bradley, Houston and Pepperdine in the last 10 days.

The game also will bring together two of the rapidly emerging juniors in Southern California basketball: Loyola forward Mike Yoest and Long Beach guard Morlon Wiley.

Yoest, 6-7, averaging 28.3 points and 8.3 rebounds and shooting 65%, is coming off a 57-point, two-game tournament in Iowa, including a career-high 35 points against Washington State.

Wiley, Long Beach’s 6-foot 5-inch, home-grown point guard, is leading the 49ers with a 16-point average and also has an average of 5.6 assists. He had 17 points and 9 assists as the 49ers ended Pepperdine’s 30-game home winning streak Thursday night with a 86-77 victory.

Long Beach won the last meeting between the two--73-71 in the 1983-84 season, and if history is any indication, Loyola has its work cut out. The Lions are 1-10 against Long Beach.