Lion Cagers Slip By Czechs Minus Three Top Scorers

Loyola Marymount’s exhibition basketball game Saturday was not a true indication of the strength of the Lions because of the absence of Hank Gathers, Bo Kimble and Jeff Fryer, the Lions’ top-scoring lettermen.

The 129-126 last-shot victory over the Czechoslovakian national team did provide some indicators, however, about the Lions’ makeup and some of the new faces:

- Senior guard Enoch Simmons, named team captain late last week, is relaxed and ready to play at several positions. Simmons, who spent the summer playing professional baseball, scored 35 points including Loyola’s last two baskets in the final 24 seconds. At 6-foot-4, he also had several impressive rebounds playing small forward and made an all-out dive off the court to save a loose ball near the end of the game. “Enoch set the tone the entire game,” Coach Paul Westhead said. “That’s why I named him captain.”

- Sophomore forward Per Stumer, a new face by way of the Swedish national team, was as intense and aggressive as Simmons on the way to 28 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Near the end of the game, the Czechs grabbed a rebound and threw an outlet pass to the wing. Stumer (appropriately pronounced “Steamer”) virtually body-blocked the Czech ball handler (no foul was called), grabbed the ball, spun and hit a clutch 3-pointer.

- Freshman guard Terrell Lowery got 17 points, 8 assists and 5 steals in 20 minutes, including several pressure baskets and free throws in the closing minutes. Loyola put together a 16-0 run in the first half with a small lineup featuring Simmons, the 6-2 Lowery and 5-9 sophomore Terry Mister. Lowery showed freshman greenness with six turnovers but, Westhead noted, “we would have been in some trouble without that freshman out there.”

- Sophomore Tom Peabody, a transfer guard from Rice, played several positions including forward and had 6 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds and several headfirst dives for loose balls. Peabody remains somewhat reluctant to shoot but hit a key jumper down the stretch.

- Redshirt 6-9 freshman Chris Knight, starting in place of Gathers, had 12 points and 7 rebounds and hit a driving bank shot in the final minute to pull the Lions within a point at 124-123. Knight seems to have moved to the fore of several tall young Lions, but 6-8 sophomore Marcus Slater also had some good moments, scoring 9 points in 16 minutes.

In short, even without scoring stars Gathers and Kimble, the Lions appear to be a group that has learned to win. It may have been an exhibition game, but Westhead was coaching in the second half to win, and the Czechs took the game every bit as seriously.

And the Lions appear capable of scoring bundles of points with almost any combination on the floor.

The Lions, who officially open at home Monday against Azusa Pacific, may not win 28 games again, but it looks like they’ll have some fun. So will those watching.

Several South Bay families had more than just passing interest in last weekend’s NCAA Division I women’s soccer Final Four at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Western Regional winner UC Berkeley had forward-midfielder Shelly Marsden of Torrance and Ann Vasey from Palos Verdes in the lineup when the Bears lost to North Carolina State, 1-0, in Saturday’s semifinal. (In the final, host North Carolina defeated N.C. State, 4-1, for its second straight title.)

Marsden, a senior out of West Torrance High, was appearing in her second straight Final Four. Vasey, a junior out of Palos Verdes High, missed last year’s tournament because she sat out the season with an injury.

Marsden, in her best season, started 18 games and produced 5 goals and 2 assists, including assists on both goals in last weekend’s 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Colorado College. The major in political economy is also Cal’s candidate for the scholar-athlete award to be given by the Intercollegiate Soccer Assn. of America. Her all-around success in college has prompted Coach Jean-Paul Verhees to say: “It has been a coach’s dream and honor to have such a player.”

Vasey, a defender, started 5 games and recorded 2 assists. Cal, which has actively recruited South Bay players this decade, played in its third Final Four since 1985. The Bears went 16-5-2 this season.

Toro Tidbits: Cal State Dominguez Hills basketball Coach Dave Yanai has established a remarkable pattern that he hopes to continue this season. Since the 1984-85 season, Yanai has recorded a .700 winning percentage every other year. His 1987-88 team finished 13-13 last March. . . . In winning its opening game Friday over the University of Manitoba, 91-69, Yanai broke with another pattern the Toros have established--a tendency to lose season openers. Under Yanai, the Toros were 4-7 on opening night and had last won their first game three years ago. . . . However, the Toros are officially 0-1. The game against Manitoba doesn’t count on the team’s official record because the NCAA doesn’t recognize games against Canadian schools.

College Notes

Three Dominguez Hills soccer players were named to the Division II Western Region women’s first team: junior forwards Lynor Johnson and Kristi White and senior defender Mandi Robertson. All are eligible for All-America honors. . . . The Loyola water polo team completed the season with a 14-15 record, winning 1 of 3 games in the season-ending Western Water Polo Assn. Tournament at the Air Force Academy. The Lions beat Occidental, 10-4, but fell to Claremont-Mudd, 13-7, and Cal State Los Angeles, 14-7. Senior Doug Pitts was named to the all-tournament second team. . . . Kirsten O’Hara of the UC Berkeley cross-country team placed 39th while Cal placed ninth in Monday’s NCAA cross-country championships at Iowa State. O’Hara, a fifth-year senior out of Palos Verdes High, was making her fourth NCAA appearance. In 1985 she placed 20th and in 1987 she was 11th, earning All-America honors each time. This year Cal was one of 16 schools sending a full team, with O’Hara the Bears’ No. 2 runner.