Loyola Cagers Tally 320 Points in Practice Game

Call Saturday’s Crimson-Gray intrasquad basketball game at Loyola Marymount “Out of the Fryer, Into the Knight,” or maybe “A Hard Day’s Knight.”

The good news was that with three key players injured, the Lions managed to run up 320 points, with redshirt freshman Chris Knight accounting for 50 points in his unofficial coming out.

But a knee injury to junior guard Jeff Fryer put a damper on the day for Coach Paul Westhead.

“Call it a mixed day,” Westhead said. “Certainly some of the younger guys--Terrell Lowery and Chris Knight--played very well, and Marcellus Lee gave some good performances. But I’m concerned more about Fryer than about who won the game.”

Fryer, one of Westhead’s designated three-point shooters, already had 10 points when he went down in a collision under the basket and landed on his kneecap 8 minutes into the game. The preliminary diagnosis was a sprained ligament. If anything is torn, Fryer could be out for a while, seriously affecting the team’s outside game, depth and pressing defense.

The Lions also played without senior guard Enoch Simmons, resting a sore knee, while guard Bo Kimble--the team’s other noted outside shooter--played gingerly on yet another sore knee. Despite Kimble’s 18 points in 18 minutes, Westhead said, “Bo was obviously not ready to play.”

Knight, meanwhile, had an enjoyable afternoon, hitting 20 of 31 shots. The slender 6-foot-9 freshman, known as “Blade” to teammates, knifed his way for 11 rebounds and 11 steals as well.

“If he played that hard every day, he’d always score like that, especially in our system,” forward Hank Gathers noted. Gathers should know. He had 58 points and 18 rebounds. He also unveiled a wraparound no-look pass for one of his 4 assists.

For the record, the Gray team won, 172-148, led by Knight, and newcomers Per Stumer at forward with 34 points and Lowery, a freshman guard, with 31 points and 18 assists. Lee, a junior center, added 27 points. Lowery hit 3 of 4 three-point attempts, while Stumer was 4 of 8.

To put the score in perspective, no game in NCAA history has ever produced 300 points.

Meanwhile, Westhead--approaching the season opener against Azusa Pacific in two weeks--has to consider juggling his talent until the squad is healthy.

“This was to be the end of general practice sessions. Monday we were going to get into more specific things, individual matchups. This changes things.”

The Lions will have one more exhibition game, Saturday night against the Czech national team.