Nov. 30, 2012

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LOS ANGELES -- Spirit Week on the campus of Loyola Marymount University reaches its grand finale on Saturday, Dec. 1 when the Lions host Portland State for the 2012-13 Homecoming Game at Gersten Pavilion. The action begins with the Pregame Tailgate Party at 3:30 p.m., followed by tip-off at 5 p.m. Follow the game live on Lions' All-Access through LMULions.com and on KXLU 88.9 FM.

LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:

GAME:	LMU (3-4) vs. Portland St. (1-3)
DATE/TIME:	Dec. 1, 2012 // 5:00 p.m. (PST)
LOCATION:	Gersten Pavilion (4,156) // Los Angeles, CA
TV:	None
RADIO:	KXLU 88.9 FM (Jesse Kass)
WEBCAST:	Lions' All-Access
LIVE STATS:	GameTracker
MOBILE STATS:	StatBroadcast
RESOURCES:	GameDay Central LMU Game Notes Portland State Notes Interactive Game Notes Media Almanac Latest on Lions' All-Access

HAPPENINGS
The 2012-13 Homecoming Game will bring to close Spirit Week. The afternoon will be full of activities, starting with the Pregame Tailgate Party at 3:30 p.m. LionsFund will be featuring its first pregame reception of the season for qualified members in the ADG Conference Room in the Lions Athletic Center starting at 4 p.m. The annual Homecoming T-Shirt will be the give-away for the game. The game is sponsored by ASLMU, ROAR, SAAC and Sophomore Housing. There will be special sophomore promotions, including a free giveaway during the Tailgate. Seniors, there will be a special postgame in The Loft.

INSIDE THE GAME
This will be the fifth meeting in the series between LMU and Portland State as the Vikings return the 2011 ESPN BracketBusters game played in Portland on Feb. 19, 2011. The Vikings earned an 84-75 win in that meeting, giving them a 3-1 edge in the series. The Lions won the first meeting in 1997 at Gersten Pavilion, 88-84 in overtime. The Vikings have taken the last three, including two straight in Portland. Portland State enters the game at 1-3 with their last game coming on Nov. 25, an 81-58 loss at #20 Oklahoma State. They also fell to fellow WCC foe Portland, 81-60, on Nov. 21. Renado Parker leads three Vikings in double figures with 11.3 points per game as the team has averaged 66 ppg in its first four while allowing 75 ppg.

GAME DAY
For complete information on coming to the game, including parking info, visit:

GameDay Central Fans can get all the latest information on coming to a game this 2012-13 season at GameDay Central, including information on the new parking policies at LMU.

Fans are reminded that starting in August, LMU charges for parking on campus. FANS ARE ENCOURAGE TO PURCHASE PARKING IN ADVANCE. Parking is enforced Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. through 8 p.m. For complete information, visit the following resources:
LMU|LA Parking Website | LMUPark | Where to Park | Fees | How to Pay | GameDay Central Parking Info

COMING UP ON THE TUBE
Following the Lions homecoming game, LMU will head to Northern Arizona on Dec. 5 for a 5:35 pm (PT) tipoff. The game continues to grow in its television coverage and can now be seen in Los Angeles on basic cable on Fox Sports Net West. It will also be carried on Fox Sports Net Arizona and Fox College Sports. FSN West can be found in Los Angeles on Time Warner Cable on channel 41 (HD on 463) or on DirectTV on channel 692. In addition, the Lions PCH Cup showdown at Gersten Pavilion against Pepperdine on Jan. 24 has been moved up to 6 p.m. and will be aired on Time Warner Cable SportsNet. The NAU game will start three straight games to be televised for the Lions, followed by Ole Miss on ESPNU (Dec. 19) and Saint Louis on FSN-Midwest (Dec. 22). At least 17 games will be televised this year for the Lions.

INSIDE THE LIONS
• The Lions are 3-4 on the young season after falling to Long Beach State at home on Thursday, Nov. 29. Junior Anthony Ireland has exploded for the Lions to start the young season, and entered the week leading the WCC in scoring and is averaging 21.4 points per game. He had three 20-plus point games at the Great Alaska Shootout, giving him 18 in his career. In the win over Texas State, he scored his 1,000th career point and he is now 31st all-time with 1,038 points. In Alaska, he scored a career-best 30 against Oral Roberts, 23 against Texas State and 26 against the host Seawolves.

• Senior Ashley Hamilton had his fourth career double-double in the win over Texas State, going for 13 points and 14 rebounds. He had six offensive rebounds as the Lions totaled 17 offensive boards in the win. He is second on the team with 14.0 points per game and is fourth in the WCC with 7.7 rebounds per contest. The Lions outrebounded Texas State 48-32, forced 14 turnovers on 10 steals, held a 22-12 edge in points off turnovers and held the Bobcats to 34.4 percent shooting from the field. The Lions entered the week at third in the WCC in rebound maring and are at a +8.1 entering the Portland State game. They also lead the league with 14.5 offensive rebounds per game.

• More double-doubles: Junior Ayodeji Egbeyemi is off to his best season, sitting third on the team with 13.3 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game. He had his second career double-double on Thursday with 16 points and 11 rebounds. He has 23 rebounds in the last two games, and went going 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-6 from the three-point line against Long Beach State. He leads the team with 14 three-pointers and is shooting 42.4 percent from long range.

• More from long range: The Lions hit 13-for-25 from three on Thursday (52 percent) and are hitting 39 percent as a team. The top four scorers are all above 42 percent, including Ireland and Hamilton at 46.2 percent. C.J. Blackwell, who missed the first three games due to an injury, came back in a big way in his return home, hitting 5-for-8 from long range for 15 points. He is 7-for-14 form long range on the season.

• The 2012-13 season is a combination of experience and the unknown as the Lions returned eight letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that had the best season since the Elite Eight campaign at 21-13 overall and 11-5 (4th) in the WCC. With the experience, however, there is plenty of youth. The 15-man roster has just 15 years of NCAA Division-I basketball experience - one of the youngest rosters in the country.

• The experience: LMU junior Anthony Ireland (21.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.8 apg), who was named Preseason All-WCC after earning First-Team All-Conference a year ago, Ashley Hamilton (14.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg), a fifth-year senior who averaged over 11 points and 5.6 rebounds a year ago, and Godwin Okonji (5.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg), who has led the team in blocks the last two years. They enter the fourth game of the season having played 230 combined games and have combined to make 199starts. In addition, junior Ayodeji Egbeyemi (13.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg), who has started all seven games of the season, and redshirt junior Alex Osborne (3.6 rpg) combine for 129 games of experience.

• The youth: The rest of the Lions' scholarship roster is underclassmen. Sophomores Bruce English (missed first six games with ankle injury) and CJ Blackwell (missed first three games with knee injury, had 15 points in 37 minutes against LBSU) had solid first seasons, with English earning the start in the exhibition game on Oct. 30 while Blackwell showed flashes of offensive fireworks a year ago. The rest of the active roster are newcomers, with transfer Chase Flint (6.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 4.5 apg), and freshmen Taj Adams (will redshirt 2012-13), Marin Mornar (3.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Nick Stover (5.7 ppg in 17.0 mpg) and Adam Drexler (7.0 mpg in two games).

- GO LIONS -