Loyola Crushes Brooklyn in a 123-72 Record-Setter

Garbage time came early at Loyola Marymount Wednesday night. In fact, it may have started with the opening tip in a game in which the Lions put away Brooklyn College’s basketball team, 123-72, for a school-record winning margin.

The record was aided by 15 three-point baskets, another school record, as the Lions’ full-court press consistently forced Brooklyn turnovers and led to easy baskets.

Six players in double figures helped Loyola improve its record to 5-3, while Brooklyn fell to 6-5 and lost the two games on its Western trip by a combined 79 points.

The Lions shot 54% and were 15 of 26 from three-point range. On defense, the Lions had 9 steals and forced 23 turnovers.

“We were concerned they were going to hold the ball,” Loyola Coach Paul Westhead said. “We knew we had to full-court defend not to make that a reality.

“We feel that’s somewhat the pattern some teams in our league will want to play, so we have to be a good defensive team--which we never have been. The defense feeds the offense when it’s working, then it makes it look easy. It’s not.”

Loyola virtually put the game away in the opening minutes, running away from a 5-4 start to a 28-12 advantage at the 12:17 mark.

With Brooklyn’s star, forward David Grady, on the bench with three fouls--he fouled out with only two points--the Kingsmen could only watch as Loyola buried them under a barrage of three-pointers to build a 47-20 lead with nearly six minutes remaining.

The score was 60-33 at the half, and Loyola had four players in double figures and another with nine points. The Lions hit seven three-pointers in the half and added eight more (in 12 attempts) after intermission.

Loyola doubled the score at 70-35 with more than 18 minutes left to play, and took a 41-point advantage with 16:43 left. The lead reached 51 at 101-50 with nine minutes left.

Hank Gathers led the Lions with 18 points.