Tention resigns from Loyola Marymount

Loyola Marymount men’s basketball Coach Rodney Tention and the university have parted ways, the school announced Wednesday.

A former assistant to Lute Olson at Arizona, Tention had a 30-61 record in three seasons with the Lions, including a 5-26 record this season, when his team lost 12 of its last 13 games.

“We didn’t have the best of seasons, and we’re looking to get better,” Athletic Director Bill Husak said.

Only a month ago Husak told The Times that Tention was “a great fit for our institution and a good coach who will only get better and better, and we are prepared to grow with him.”

The Lions were 5-20 at that point, but Husak said a six-game losing streak to end the season changed his point of view. “We had hoped that we would see some improvement,” he said. “But we didn’t finish strong.”

Tention could not be reached for comment, and a call to his agent was not returned. His tenure before this season had been plagued by bad luck. In his first season, a missed layup at the buzzer of the West Coast Conference tournament title game kept Loyola Marymount from the NCAA tournament.

Last season, the Lions started 8-5 before losing leading scorer Brandon Worthy to a knee injury. They finished 13-18.

This season the Lions had a starting lineup of three freshmen and a sophomore.

Tention is the fifth West Coast Conference coach to have quit or been fired since the end of last season. Pepperdine’s Vance Walberg and San Francisco’s Jessie Evans both left during this season.

Husak said he didn’t have a timeline for hiring a replacement.

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