Saint Mary’s Gaels Tame Loyola Marymount Lions In Dominating Win

The Saint Mary’s Gaels faced the Loyola Marymount Lions Saturday afternoon in the last of a six-game homestand. The Gaels started the night with an impressive 12-1 at home record.  Loyola came into McKeon Pavilion 11-10 on their season.

The Gaels were on a three-game winning streak beating USF, Pacific, and Pepperdine. Saturday marked No. 4 as the Gaels tamed the Lions in a solid 89-61 victory.

The Gaels opened up this afternoon off  Beau Levesque being fouled. Beau hit both free throws, giving the Gaels their first score and lead of the game.  Gabe Levin of the Lions answered back and tied the game 2-2.

Brad Waldow hit six straight points at drove the lead to 8-2 Gaels. Kerry Carter followed with two giving the Gaels an 8-0 run.  By the media time out at 14:37, the Gaels were up 10-4.

With 12:29 to play in the half Jordan Giusti hit back-to-back 3s, forcing a Lions timeout. Giusti answered the time out with yet another 3 from downtown, scoring nine straight.

The Gaels could not be stopped in the first half, sending the Lions to the Locker room down 42-24.

For the half the Gaels went 16-for-34 (47.1 percent) from the floor and were 5-for-11 (45.5 percent) from behind the arc. Brad Waldow had an impressive 16 first-half points. He averages just more than 17 points per game.

For the Lions, they went 9-for-29 (31.0 percent) from the floor and were 1-for-1 from 3.

In the seconf half the Lions came out ready to play. They pressed the Gaels and tried to gain some ground. They closed the gap to 11 with 15:40 to play, but from that point on the Lions were never in the game.

The Gaels continued their offensive charge and tamed the Lions Saturday in a solid victory.

On the officiating end, tonight was a better called game all the way around. Two interesting back-to-back technical fouls went to Loyola Marymount late in the first half. Stephen Holt went 3-for-4 from the line on the technicals.

The Gaels fininished the night  29-for-58 (50 percent) from the floor. They went 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) from behind the arc. Leading the way was Brad Waldow with 27. Jordan Giusti had a season-high 15. Kerry Carter also put up 15.

The Lions finished 22-for-56 (39.3 percent) from the floor. They went 2-for-6 (33.3 percent) from 3. Both Anthony Ireland and Gabe Levin had 17.

The Gaels move to 6-2 in the West Coast Conference. Loyola falls to 4-6.

The Gaels head south to face San Diego Thursday night. The sure to be exciting game starts at 7 p.m. Pacific.

The Gaels head south to face San Diego Thursday night. The action starts at 7:00pm. Pacific