Loyola Marymount falls to Pacific

Was it worth it?

Loyola Marymount shelled out a five-figure sum to play in the postseason for the first time in 20 years, and its performance might have left some wishing for a refund.

The Lions came out jittery in falling behind by 20 points and never recovered during an 86-76 loss to Pacific on Wednesday night at Gersten Pavilion in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com tournament.

There was nothing spine-tingling about Loyola Marymount’s first postseason game since its run to the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight in 1990. Bo Kimble shooting free throws left-handed, this wasn’t.

Actually, the Lions (18-16) might have had better luck not shooting with their natural hands during a first half in which they made only eight of 32 shots (25%) and trailed by as many as 20 points before a subdued crowd of 1,541.

Junior guard Vernon Teel scored 17 of his team-high 22 points in the second half as Loyola Marymount cut the deficit to three points on three occasions before running out of momentum.

Junior forward Sam Willard had 23 points and 17 rebounds for Pacific (21-11), which made 60% of its shots. The Tigers advanced to play an opponent to be determined.

Even though the Lions finished their season with 15 more victories than last year, Coach Max Good said, “You won’t convince any of the guys that we had a great season right now.”

Sophomore guard Drew Viney said his teammates were “kind of nervous” about playing in the postseason at home, and it showed during a first half.

“We just came out and we didn’t play how we normally play, said Viney, who had 17 points.

But with a roster that includes no seniors, the Lions hope to make a deeper postseason run in 2011.

“We want to make a run in the tournament next year,” Viney said. “That’s our goal.”

And next time, they don’t want to be stuck with the tab.

ben.bolch@latimes.com