Saint Mary’s wins 11th straight vs. LMU
January 27, 2012
LOS ANGELES (AP)—Regardless of what Loyola Marymount threw at No. 21 SaintMary’s, the Gaels had all the answers.
Stephen Holt scored 19 points to lead Saint Mary’s to a 71-64 victory onThursday night.
“That’s just the kind of team we are,” Holt said. “Tonight just happenedto be my night but we have a lot of veterans on this team who can step up. I’mreally proud of my teammates.”
The win was the 11th straight for the Gaels (20-2, 9-0 West CoastConference) over Loyola, dating to 2005-06. The Gaels have won 20 games for theeighth time in school history and six of those seasons have been with coachRandy Bennett.
If Saint Mary’s latest victory was in ever in doubt, the Gaels didn’t showit.
“We knew they were going to try and pressure us,” Saint Mary’s assistantcoach Rick Croy said. “Luckily we held tough defensively in the first half.
Drew Viney had 18 points for the Lions (12-9, 5-3), who led by seven pointsbefore managing just one field goal over the final 5:10 of the first half.
Anthony Ireland’s basket with 5:11 remaining gave the Lions a 29-23 lead.Ireland also scored the Lions’ next basket. Unfortunately for LMU, it came withless than 2 seconds left in the half
The Gaels scored 12 points between Ireland’s baskets, taking a 35-31 leadinto halftime. Jorden Page and Clint Steindl had 3-pointers, Kenton Walker IIadded a dunk and Rob Jones and Matthew Dellavedova also scored in run.
Saint Mary’s opened the second half on a 10-0 run to take control of thegame.
“We should have been denying the elbow-catch and we weren’t doing it,” LMUcoach Max Good said. “We had to do a better job of meeting them at the rim. Butthey’re strong. That’s easier said than done.”
Loyola got within six points in the second half.
Saint Mary’s finished with a 39-24 rebound advantage.
“You can never get outrebounded against a team like them and expect towin,” Good said.
Ireland’s basket at the end of the first half turned out to be the Lions’only points during a 9:49 span. The drought ended when Ashley Hamilton knockeddown a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Dellavedova had 13 points for the Gaels while Jones added 11 and Brad Waldowhad 10. Dellavedova had seven assists which moved into third place on SaintMary’s career list with 477.
“We have a veteran group with really, really solid leadership,” Croy said. “These guys understand what it takes to win in this conference.”
