After watching the Bruins lose, it was time for my second LA college hoops game of the day, this one with another ursine competitor. The Morgan State Bears were visiting the Loyola Marymount Lions; if you wanted Tigers you had to watch the CFP semifinal with Clemson.
LMU is located in the Westchester neighbourhood, just north of LAX. With Gary and King opting to spend their evening in Bakersfield for an AHL tilt, I had to use transit to get there, taking the Culver City bus from UCLA, a bargain at a buck. After disembarking at Sepulveda and 80th, I walked the final mile and a half through a very quiet and dark Westchester, arriving at the university gate at Loyola Boulevard over an hour before game time.
Gersten Pavilion is part of LMU's athletics complex in the middle of campus, right next to the Burns Recreation Center. This is a surprisingly formidable looking combination of buildings, with the space between them an eerie outdoor atrium that looks more like a Star Wars rebel base than a college rec center.
Gersten is on the right in the above photos, though it is tough to see underneath the roof. The shot below shows that the structure has a bit of colour to it, but with it being so dark, it was tough to get a good exterior view.
The name on the venue is rather understated by comparison. Opened in 1981 and named for Albert Gersten, father of LMU regent Albert Gersten, Jr., the facility used to be the occasional practice court for the Lakers and was the site for weightlifting at the 1984 Olympics. It has a capacity of 4,156, which has been exceeded on nine occasions. That would not be the case this night.
Inside the main entrance is a long hallway with the Spirit Store the only inhabitant. There are doors directly to the court from here, but those are restricted to courtside seat holders. Other fans will have to choose between the two staircases at either end of the hall.
These staircases do have a few photos that are worth checking out; I liked how they are cut to match the bannister below. It shows that someone has a good sense of design and that is reflected throughout the venue.
Inside, the gym is quite colourful, with one side in blue and the other in red. This motif extends to the floor itself, where one key is red and the other blue; a sight I had not seen before. This is a good way to utilize both of the school's colours.
There is a clever transition between the two colours along the sidelines as red stripes get larger and blue stripes get smaller towards center court, and then reverse on the other side. There are also palm trees on the court, making it a unique floor in college hoops.
Gersten Pavilion is also unofficially known as Hank's House after Hank Gathers, who led the country in scoring and rebounding in 1988-89 but passed away after collapsing during a WCC tournament game in 1990. Gathers #44 jersey is retired and there is a Hank's House plaque on the south wall. A statue is also being funded and is expected to be revealed in the spring 2020 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Gathers' passing. These teams were coach by Paul Westhead and led the country in scoring for three straight seasons, with their 1990 average of 122.4 points still standing as the record.
Banners are located in the rafters on each side of the court, again with blue and red. Retired jerseys are on the blue wall, as you can see in the photo below. After Gathers died, the team was awarded the WCC's tournament berth and they went to the Elite Eight before losing to UNLV. It was an inspiring story at the time and worth reviewing if you don't recall the details.
On the west side of the gym, the lower level encompasses Sections 101-105 and each seat is a chairback with a cupholder in the armrest.
Across the way in Section 301-305, there are individual bench seats (below). The upper levels on both sides (201-205 on the west, 401-405 on the east) are wooden bleachers, but all seats are reserved. Prices for all sections vary depending on opponent, as an example, the cheapest bleacher seats are $9 for San Diego, but these are $24 when #1 Gonzaga comes to town.
The shot below is from just below the camera stand and shows the full gym and its colour scheme.
The logos for the other schools in the WCC are tastefully displayed in white against an off-white background on the south wall, divided into two groups of five.
The scoreboard is two-sided and hangs above mid-court, while stats boards can be found directly behind each basket.
The concessions are outside in the atrium, with a scoreboard above that lets you know how long until the second half resumes.
They even sell beer here, with season ticket holders and students getting free suds. My attempts to look half my age in order to enjoy this benefit did not succeed.
Overall, I really enjoyed Gersten Pavilion and marveled at the contrast between it and Pauley Pavilion, which I had seen just that afternoon. LMU lacks the national profile of UCLA, but their gym is creative and different in many respects. Don't overlook the Lions next time you are in LA, as they provide an equally entertaining alternative to some of the bigger college programs in the city.
The Game
Morgan State is from Baltimore but were not unaccustomed to visiting California, having scheduled New Year's trips every season since at least 2013, including several stops at LMU, who were favoured by 10 on this night.
The game started with a fast pace, as both teams went back and forth. With LMU up 17-11 after a trey from Ivan Alipiev, Morgan State went on an 18-2 run that was the key part of a 40-32 halftime lead.
The Lions fought back and managed to tie the game at 44 at the midway point of the second half, in other words, just 16 total points in 10 minutes. Troy Baxter made a three for the Bears and Sherwyn Devonish followed with a layup and those five points were just enough. LMU got back within one on several occasions, but could not regain the lead. With 1:08 to go, Erik Johansson made three freebies to get LMU within 63-62, but Baxter made another triple at the 40-second mark to regain the four-point cushion. When Jordan Bell missed a three for LMU, the Lions had to foul, and the last 27 seconds were just that.
Morgan State made 7 of their 8 shots from the stripe, but allowed some easy shots to LMU, who used another Alipiev three and a pair of layups from Deovaunta Williams to get within 2 with just over a second left. Another foul brought Morgan's Malik Miller to the line and he sank the first before missing the second. Jordan Bell grabbed the rebound and heaved it the length of the court as time expired, only to have the ball bounce off the front of the rim, ending any chance of the game being featured on SportsCenter.
Another three-point road upset on the day. LMU jacked 26 threes but made only 9, while Morgan State was 18-35 from inside the arc, perhaps a sign that old-style basketball can still win games? Baxter led all scorers with 27, including 5-of-9 from downtown, so no, you still need the outside option to keep the defense honest. All in all, an interesting contrast for the day, not just in venues, but also in styles of basketball.
Best,
Sean
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