Loyola Hopes Vanish in Flash

Loyola Marymount’s players had their dream in their hands, but they couldn’t hold it.

They were a layup from glory in the final seconds against No. 4-ranked Gonzaga on Monday, but Chris Ayer’s shot sailed high over the rim and the horn sounded on a frenzied 68-67 Gonzaga victory in the West Coast Conference tournament title game on Gonzaga’s home court.

A victory would have put the Lions in the NCAA tournament for the first time since the stirring run after the death of Hank Gathers in 1990. Instead, they are bound for heartache after losing a 15-point lead with less than 14 minutes left.

“It just hurts,” said Ayer, who fell to his knees and buried his head in his hands until his teammates leaned in to comfort him.

“It’s not just for me, it’s for the other seniors. We’re done, that’s it, our careers are over.”

Brandon Worthy, a junior, couldn’t hold back his emotions.

“I can’t describe it,” he said. “This is probably the most devastating feeling I’ve ever felt. It’s like an emptiness inside you, a void that can’t be filled and only time will heal, I guess. To be so close, and have the opportunity at the end to make it to the NCAA tournament and to have that feeling taken away from you, it’s a feeling I’ve never felt.”

Trailing by one with 11 seconds left after Gonzaga’s fierce rally erased Loyola’s lead, the Lions put the ball in the hands of Worthy, their strongest guard and best free-throw shooter.

Three Gonzaga players converged on him on the right wing.

“I looked at the clock and it said 4.4 seconds,” Worthy said. “I took one last look at the basket, but I didn’t want to throw up a bad shot. Then I saw Chris wide open.”

Somehow, Worthy got the ball through a tangle of arms to Ayer.

“I got a good look at it. After that, I let it go,” Ayer said. “I aimed for the block. I tried to put a soft touch on it. I don’t know what happened after that. [Matthew Knight] and I went for the rebound, the buzzer went off and that was it. Their crowd started cheering. I don’t know much after that.”

Whether his shot, which missed badly, was tipped by a defender, no one was quite certain.

“I don’t know,” Ayer said.

“I think [Erroll Knight] did,” Gonzaga Coach Mark Few said, then added with a smirk, “He’s claiming he did.”

In any case, the buzzer sounded before Loyola got another shot off, and the sellout crowd of 6,000 in McCarthey Athletic Center went into delirium, though the celebration never reached the court.

Adam Morrison, the Gonzaga star who struggled to a six-for-18 shooting performance but finished with 23 points, four assists and three steals, led the celebration from the press table in what might have the been the last home game of the junior’s career.

“I still haven’t made that decision,” Morrison said. “Obviously, we wanted to win it in front of our fans, in front of my parents. So I just want to go out in style, but I might have another year to go out in style. So it all depends.”

Ahead for Gonzaga (27-3) is the NCAA tournament, though whether its seeding will slip from a likely No. 2 after being taken to overtime by San Diego and to the brink by Loyola Marymount remains to be seen.

The Lions, with a 12-18 record in Coach Rodney Tention’s first season, would have been a March darling. Instead they’re left with what could have been.

Gonzaga stormed back, with Worthy, who finished with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists, on the bench with four fouls for much of the run.

There was the rare sight of Morrison’s making a backcourt steal, then passing the ball from flat on his back on a play that ended with a resounding dunk by Erroll Knight to cut the lead to eight. A three-pointer by Jeremy Pargo cut the lead to four with eight minutes left. With less than four to go, he made another three for a five-point lead, 66-61.

Tention already had brought Worthy back, telling him, “We can’t win without you.”

Few knew it.

“You feel for them,” he said. “Brandon Worthy played his tail off. They all did.”