San Diego 66, Loyola Marymount 63

Published Feb. 4, 2011 12:24 a.m. ET

foxsports

Chris Gabriel scored a career-high 21 points, including the go-ahead basket with 36.9 seconds left, to lift San Diego a 66-63 win over Loyola Marymount on Thursday night.

Gabriel was 10 of 16 from the field, but none was bigger than his lay-up that gave San Diego (5-18, 1-7 West Coast) a 65-63 lead.

The win helped the Toreros avoid their worst conference start in school history. San Diego lost its first seven WCC games by an average of more than 15 points.

Anthony Ireland led Loyola Marymount (9-14, 1-7) with 12 points and Drew Viney added 10.

The Lions, who have lost five of their seven conference games by a combined total of 14 points, missed three shots to tie the game in the final 14 seconds.

Matt Dorr and Ken Rancifer scored 12 points apiece for San Diego, which shot 50.9 percent from the floor.