Loyola Effective Outside and Inside : Fryer Scores 26, Gathers 25 to Lead Lions Past San Diego

Behind the three-point shooting of Jeff Fryer and the inside game of Hank Gathers, Loyola Marymount defeated the University of San Diego, 104-88, Friday night at San Diego’s Sports Center.

The victory, coupled with St. Mary’s 77-49 rout of Pepperdine, leaves a three-way tie for first place in the West Coast Athletic Conference among Loyola St. Mary’s and Pepperdine at 7-2. The Lions are 14-8 overall, and San Diego is 6-15 and 1-8.

Tonight, Loyola meets St. Mary’s in a showdown at Moraga, Calif., and Pepperdine travels to San Diego. Both games are at 7:30.

In front of a standing-room-only crowd of 2,500, Fryer made 7 of 12 shots from three-point range and finished with 26 points.

“I had a big game against them last week,” said Fryer, who scored 29 points in a 139-104 victory last Saturday at Loyola. “I’m shooting the ball real well.”

Gathers, the NCAA scoring and rebounding leader, made 10 of 17 from the floor--all from close range--for 25 points, and had a game-high eight rebounds.

Bo Kimble added 22 points in 22 minutes in just the fourth game since his return from knee surgery.

Loyola Coach Paul Westhead said: “We got a very good outside shooting night with Fryer, and at times with Bo Kimble.”

San Diego’s Craig Cottrell, who scored a career-high 26 points last Saturday, matched that total Friday, hitting 10 of 12 from the floor.

Freshmen Gylan Dottin (16 points), Wayman Strickland (15) and Kelvin Woods (11) also scored in double figures for the Toreros.

San Diego rallied from a 13-point deficit to trail, 52-48, at the half. But using 10- and seven-point runs over the first 7 1/2 minutes of the second half, Loyola built a 78-56 lead, then coasted in with its fourth consecutive victory over the Toreros.

San Diego, which had 17 turnovers in the second half, finished with 26, one shy of its season worst against Nevada Reno.

“We had a couple of chances early in the second half and didn’t do anything,” San Diego Coach Hank Egan said. “The kids played better than they did the first time.”

Said Fryer: “We have a big game (tonight). I don’t know if we were looking past this one. But I expected this kind of game. We needed to work hard to win this one.”

Westhead was pleased with his team’s play and didn’t appear too concerned with the close halftime score.

“As long as it’s in the 50s,” he said. “If it was 32-28, I would have been very, very worried.”