Gaels Battle the Lions on the Road: Game Preview
By Mike Rose
The Gaels are looking to shake off a tough at home loss against #5 ranked Gonzaga Thursday night. Today they are at Loyola seeking redemption and a new winning streak.
THE GAELS:
On Thursday night St. Mary’s suffered their first home loss of the season 77-60. This was their second lowest score of the season and ended a 9-0 winning streak for the Gaels. The Gaels are now 10-2 in the WCC (2nd place) with both loses coming from Gonzaga. They are 21-5 for the season.
Points wise, the Gaels average 77.1 per game. This ranks them nationally at 16th. In overall shooting the Gaels have been strong all season with an impressive 48.9%. This has them at 9th place across the nation.
The Gaels have four players averaging double digits in scoring. Matthew Dellavedova leads the Gaels with 16.1. Stephen Holt is at 11.7. Off the bench Beau Levesque is putting up 10.8 and Brad Waldow sits at an even 10.0. Look for a strong offensive performance this afternoon from Gaels.
The Gaels outmatch the Lions in offensive performance, rebounding, assists and defense. If the Gaels can stay focused and shake off the tough Gonzaga loss, they should be able to get by the Lions. When asked about how the Gaels recover from the loss against Gonzaga, Beau Levesque said, “We need to turn the page from Thursday night. It was a rough loss and we are obviously disappointed with the outcome but it doesn’t do us any good to dwell on it”. He added that the Gaels are extremely focused in getting the win this afternoon.
The LIONS:
Loyola is currently in last place in the WCC at 1-11. They are 8-17 for the season. They are coming off a 52-50 loss at Pepperdine Thursday night. On Feb 4th they took San Diego to OT where the Lions were defeated 69-68. Six of the Lions loses this year have been by four points or less.
Points wise, the Lions are averaging 66.9 per game. They have had a tough time from the floor this year averaging 40.9% which ranks them near the bottom at 294th .
Anthony Ireland is the one to watch out for, for the Lions. He is currently averaging 20.5 points a game with 37 minutes of playtime. In the number two spot, Ashley Hamilton is also in double digits at13.2. Ayodeji Egbeyemi is averaging 10.6. All three will have to be at the top of their game this afternoon if they hope to upset the Gaels.
The Action starts at 4 pm this afternoon from the Gersten Pavilion. The game can be seen on Comcast sports net California. As always, you can listen to the game via SMCGaels.com with Alex Jensen with the call.