Loyola Wins as Gathers Scores 49

When the Loyola Marymount basketball team arrived here Thursday, Hank Gathers had good luck at the slot machines in the hotel.

Gathers went after bigger game Friday night, scoring 49 points and pulling down 26 rebounds to lead Loyola over Nevada Reno, 130-125.

The victory, before 7,640, the fifth-best crowd in the Reno school’s history, raised Loyola’s record to 4-4. Reno fell to 6-4.

Gathers’ scoring total tied Jim McCloskey’s school record, set in 1980, and his 24 field goals (in 37 attempts) set a school record. His rebound total was the second best in Loyola history, and for good measure, he blocked 3 shots.

The Lions overcame a 62-57 halftime deficit, despite starting guards Enoch Simmons and Jeff Fryer fouling out, career-high efforts by Reno guards Darryl Owens (36 points) and Kevin Franklin (33 points), and the absence of high-scoring Bo Kimble.

Loyola Coach Paul Westhead said he wasn’t unduly worried. “We still had Hank the Bank,” he noted.

The Lions led early but fell behind as Reno rode the shooting of Franklin, a sophomore guard out of Woodland Hills Taft High School, who had 22 points as the Wolf Pack built leads of as many as 9 points.

Gathers kept the Lions close with 19 first-half points. At halftime, Westhead issued his team a challenge: “I told them, ‘We asked for it (pace), what are we gonna do about it?’ We cranked it, and I think we caught Reno a little tired.”

Gathers scored three quick baskets to open the second half, and the Lions held leads that reached 13 points.

Reno made a late run, but Lion reserve guard Terry Mister hit 4 free throws in the final 23 seconds on his way to a career-high 12 points, and swingman Tom Peabody converted a 3-point play and 2 free throws down the stretch. He matched Mister with a career-best 12. Per Stumer added 16 points and 11 rebounds.