Emotional Loyola Routs San Francisco

There was the emotional farewell ceremony given in honor of Loyola Marymount’s lone departing senior, Ime Oduok, just before Saturday night’s tipoff against San Francisco.

And then there was the game itself. The emotions, and an intensity level not seen recently in Gersten Pavilion among both players and fans, seemed to spill onto the court.

The result was a 71-51 rout of the Dons before 1,978. It was the Lions’ largest margin of victory in a West Coast Conference game since the 1990-91 season.

They improved to 18-9 overall and 8-6 in the WCC, which puts them into a third-place tie with San Francisco and--because of the tie-breaker system--places them as the third-seeded team in next weekend’s conference tournament.

They will open next Saturday against San Diego. The fourth-seeded Dons (15-11, 8-6) will open against Portland.

Oduok, near tears during the ceremony, in which the fans gave him a rousing and lengthy standing ovation, got caught up in the act on the court as well, scoring 13 points and pulling down nine rebounds.

“I’ve come a long way and that was going through my mind,” said the 6-foot-9 Oduok, a Nigerian who came to Loyola Marymount three years ago with virtually no organized basketball experience. “I may not be the greatest center, but I’ve given it my best, worked hard and I’m happy with my career.”

Loyola sophomore forward Ben Ammerman scored 13 of his game-high 18 points in the second half and was three of six from three-point range. Junior guard Mike O’Quinn scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half.

The Lions held the Dons’ leading scorer, forward John Duggan, to 10 points. Guard M.J. Nodilo led San Francisco with 14 points.