Lions Put Rest of Season on Hold : Basketball: Loyola Marymount team, still in shock from death of Hank Gathers, postpones any decision.

One day after watching the death of teammate Hank Gathers on the court, the Loyola Marymount Lions today postponed any decision on whether they will continue their basketball season without their superstar.

Gathers, the 11th-leading scorer in NCAA history, collapsed Sunday during the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament and died at a hospital without regaining consciousness. He was 23.

An autopsy on Gathers was tentatively scheduled today, a coroner’s spokesman said.

The WCC tournament, the winner of which receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, was canceled about four hours after Gathers was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital.

Conference officials then announced that they would offer the bid to Loyola, the league’s runaway regular season champions. The NCAA tournament is scheduled to begin March 15.

The Lions and Coach Paul Westhead met before an emotional half-hour news conference on campus. Westhead said the session was marked by a “great deal of quietness.”

“The fact that we haven’t made a decision is because we haven’t raised the question,” Westhead said. “If the question was, would the team play today or tomorrow or in three days . . . we wouldn’t play. Our concern right now is with Hank and his family.”

Flags on campus were lowered to half-staff, and classes were held as scheduled. A sign on the door of the gym at Gersten Pavilion said, “Hank We Love You.” A Mass was scheduled for noon Tuesday at the Sacred Heart Chapel on the Jesuit campus.

Loyola guard Jeff Fryer, who spoke at the news conference with teammate Bo Kimble--Gathers’ friend since their high school days in Philadelphia--seemed in no condition to make a decision about his team’s immediate future.

“I don’t care if we don’t play another game this year,” said Fryer, who wore dark sunglasses and struggled for words.

“We just lost a great part of our family. Before the game in the locker room, Hank said he was feeling strong as ever. We just don’t understand how a man that could be that strong could leave us so quickly.”

Kimble said, “Hank and I were like brothers, so close. We overcame so many different obstacles. I just know Hank would want us to be strong and go on.

“I love him so much. I’m going to miss you, Hank.”

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Westhead said Gathers was a man the team could depend on.

“ ‘Hank the Bank.’ I often called him ‘Bankman,’ ” Westhead said. “He was our guy as a player and a person. He was the leader of our team, the fiber of what we are. Whatever we were, we were Hank’s team.

“We called him the ‘Bankman’ because we went to him for everything--rebounds, points, for life.”

Moments after dunking on a spectacular alley-oop play that gave the Lions a 25-13 lead over the University of Portland, the strapping 6-foot-7 Gathers crumbled in the half-court circle with 13:34 to play in the first half.

Gathers attempted futilely to rise, and the crowd of about 4,000 at Gersten Pavilion, cheering wildly after the dunk, watched in stunned silence as the star forward went into seizure.

Gathers, who transferred with Kimble from USC after the 1985-86 season, was expected to be a high draft choice in the NBA. He also had aspirations of becoming a sportscaster.

“He was potentially a first-rounder (pick in NBA Draft),” said Marty Blake, the NBA’s director of scouting. “He ran the court well and was a great competitor. He was a great rebounder and a good jumper. He was not a great shooter but could score.

“He would have been an ideal person off the bench because he was a guy who could play right away in the NBA and could score 12 to 15 points.”

Last season, he became only the second player in NCAA history to lead the nation in scoring (32.7) and rebounding (13.7).

He had 28 points Saturday in a victory over Gonzaga, and his dunk Sunday gave him 2,222 points for his college career.