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Loyola Gets a Workout Before Putting Westmont Away, 100-84

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Times Staff Writer

Loyola Marymount wanted a good run in its home opener Wednesday. Instead, the Lions got a run for their money before beating Westmont College, 100-84, before a crowd of 1,250.

Loyola improved to 2-1 and hit triple figures for the second time, but the Lions never quite forced the pace as they had wanted to do.

Instead, Loyola had to claw its way to a 44-35 halftime lead, and they strung together only one good run midway through the second half.

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That was when the Lions put the game away with a 23-9 burst, led by Corey Gaines and Hank Gathers. With Loyola holding a 50-41 lead, the Lions’ Enoch Simmons hit a three-pointer, Gaines made a steal, dunked and converted a free throw, then Gathers took over.

The muscular forward scored Loyola’s next 13 points, starting with a steal and reverse dunk and ending with an acrobatic layup in traffic. That made the lead 71-50. Jeff Fryer hit a jumper to stretch the lead to 73-50, and when Gaines hit a three-pointer with 7:20 left, Loyola had its biggest lead, 78-54.

Gaines finished with 19 points to lead all scorers and had 9 assists and 8 steals. Gathers scored 15 points. Four other Lions scored in double figures, with Mike Yoest and Fryer getting 13 apiece.

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Westmont (2-2) had five players in double figures, led by forward Mike Kelly with 18 points and guard Curt Anders with 17.

Loyola shot 74% after the intermission (20 of 27) and 60% overall, while Westmont hit 62% overall. Two of the deciding factors were Loyola’s superior three-point shooting--8 of 12 compared to 2 of 4--and its advantage at the foul line--20 of 29 compared to 14 of 15.

Loyola Coach Paul Westhead said the Warriors “did a good job of controlling the game. Westmont did enough to keep the game logical when we’re trying to make it illogical. They just kept their pace, kept their game plan.

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“We weren’t sharp. We weren’t at our best. . . . We didn’t get a good rhythm. We’ll take the win. We’ll work on the rhythm later.”

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