No. 21 Saint Mary's Beats Loyola Marymount, Wins 11th Straight

LOS ANGELES (CBS / AP) -- Stephen Holt scored 19 points to lead No. 21 Saint Mary's to a 68-60 victory over Loyola Marymount on Thursday night.

The win was the 11th straight for the Gaels (20-2, 9-0 West Coast Conference) over Loyola, dating to 2005-06. The Gaels have won 20 games for the eighth time in school history and six of those seasons have been with coach Randy Bennett.

Drew Viney had 18 points for the Lions (12-9, 5-3), who led by seven points before 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 with less than 2 seconds left in the half.

The Gaels scored 12 points between Ireland's baskets, taking a 35-31 lead into halftime. Jorden Page and Clint Steindl had 3-pointers, Kenton Walker II added 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 the game.
Loyola got within six points in the second half.

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 knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Dellavedova finished with seven assists and moved into third place on Saint Mary's career assist list.

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