THE DEATH OF HANK GATHERS : The Grieving Is Deepened by Questions : Loyola Marymount: Cause of Gathers’ death hasn’t been determined. Autopsy results won’t be known for at least a week.

Before Sunday’s West Coast Conference semifinal basketball game, Hank Gathers went around the Loyola Marymount locker room, intoning his usual pregame proclamation: “I’m the strongest man alive.”

Six minutes 26 seconds into the game, he made a dunk shot off a long pass. Seconds later he lay on the floor, fighting for his life. Despite more than an hour of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, at Gersten Pavilion and at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital, he died. A doctor there said that when he arrived, about 20 minutes after collapsing, he showed “no (heart) rhythm compatible with life.”

Teammate Terrell Lowery, who threw the pass on Gathers’ last basket, put it in less clinical terms Monday: “One minute his head was above the rim, the next minute he was on the floor. There’s no explanation.”

Doctors hope there will be one soon. An autopsy was performed Monday, although results are not expected for at least a week because of the time required to perform a toxic-tissue test.

Medical questions remain. Gathers fainted during a game in early December and was taking a heartbeat regulator, Inderal.

Funeral services, to take place in Gathers’ hometown of Philadelphia, are pending. A memorial service will be held at 12:15 today in Gersten Pavilion. Loyola Marymount’s baseball game against USC has been canceled so that the baseball players can attend.

“This is the way he would’ve wanted to leave us, on the basketball court,” said Bo Kimble, his teammate and longtime friend, fighting to keep his composure. “We were like brothers, we were so close. We overcame so many obstacles. I know Hank would want us--his teammates--to be strong and go on.”

Kimble was one of the first to reach Gathers after he fell near midcourt, then sat up and tried to rise.

“He was fighting it, whatever it was,” Kimble said. “That was Hank, always fighting.”

Lowery was also nearby, and saw Gathers fall.

“I was so shocked I couldn’t say anything,” he said. “I didn’t think he was dying. I can’t believe it now. I still expect him to come knock on the door. In the locker room before the game he was saying, ‘I’m the strongest man alive.’ We were used to hearing it. I think we believed it.”

Coach Paul Westhead said that while trying to collect his thoughts Monday, he was heartened by a phone call from his own college coach, Jack Ramsay.

Westhead met with the team early Monday, but said there was little talk.

“We who were with him need not talk about him,” he said. “We all shared that every day. The team will probably meet daily, just to touch base and see how everyone is.”

Then, speaking from prepared notes, Westhead said of Gathers:

“Hank the Bank . . . he was our guy, the fiber of the team. We called him Bank Man because we went to him for everything--for rebounds, for points, for life. Hank was an incredible life force, a walking thunderbolt. There was never anything dull about Hank Gathers. He especially attracted and was attracted to little kids. Little kids instinctively know the good from the bad.

“Hank represented the little kid in all of us because to Hank Gathers, basketball was play. Basketball was free play and Hank was the best at playing freely.”

Westhead said that Gathers was under constant medical evaluation and that the athletic staff had no reason to hold him out of competition after he received medical clearance to return to the lineup in late December. Westhead and teammates said they thought Gathers was continuing to take his medication as prescribed.

“Blame?” Westhead said. “I only have grief and sorrow.”

Family members were not available for comment. Westhead and Kimble said that younger brother Derrick Gathers, who plays basketball at Cal State Northridge, was handling most family matters.

The rest of the conference tournament was canceled and Loyola, which had the best record in the WCC at 23-5 and 13-1, was granted the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

“Beyond that, we’ll let developments occur as they will,” said Michael Gilleran, the conference commissioner.

Westhead said that the team has not discussed continuing the season, but Loyola players made it clear Monday they intend to carry on.

Lowery said: “When we lace the shoes up, there’ll be no holding us back. We’re down now, but there’s business to be taken care of and we’re gonna get it taken care of for Hank.”

Kimble added: “The only way to go is up. We want to play right now. I see the look in our eyes, we’re ready to play. We’ll dedicate it to Hank. He was looking forward to playing and kicking some butt. We’ve gotta do it now. I’m sure he’d want us to play in the tournament, and try to turn a negative thing into a positive thing.”

Westhead credited the conference with making “a terrific decision, very appropriate” in canceling remaining games. As for the NCAA tournament, he said: “Time is on our side. There’s no game for at least another 10 days. Fortunately for us, we need not make that decision (immediately). If we’d had to play this week, we would not have.

“Of course if you asked Hank, he’d say, ‘Play today.’ ”

Teammate Jeff Fryer spoke of the team as a family, and said: “We just lost a great part of the family. We just don’t understand how a guy that strong could leave us that quickly.”