Regardless of what Loyola Marymount threw at No. 21 Saint Mary's, the Gaels had all the answers.
Stephen Holt scored 19 points to lead Saint Mary's to a 68-60 victory on Thursday night.
''That's just the kind of team we are,'' Holt said. ''Tonight just happened to be my night, but we have a lot of veterans on this team who can step up. I'm really proud of my teammates.''
The win was the 11th straight for the Gaels (20-2, 9-0 West Coast Conference) over Loyola, dating back to 2005-06. They've now won 20 games for the eighth time in school history, with six of those seasons under current coach Randy Bennett.
If the latest victory was in ever in doubt, the Gaels didn't show it.
''We knew they were going to try and pressure us,'' Saint Mary's assistant coach 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 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 two 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 three-pointers, Kenton Walker II added a dunk and Rob Jones and Matthew Dellavedova also scored in that stretch.
Saint Mary's then opened the second half on a 10-0 run to take control of the game.
''We should have been denying the elbow-catch and we weren't doing it,'' LMU coach Max Good said. ''We had to do a better job of meeting them at the rim, but they're strong. That's easier said than done.''
Loyola got within six points in the second half, but couldn't threaten any more than that.
Saint Mary's finished with a 39-24 rebound advantage.
''You can never get outrebounded against a team like them and expect to win,'' 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 knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key.
Dellavedova had 13 points for the Gaels while Jones added 11 and Brad Waldow had 10. Dellavedova's seven assists moved him into third place on the school'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.''
