Cam Shelton scored all of his career-high 31 points after halftime and Loyola Marymount rallied from a 16-point deficit on Thursday night to record a 78-74 overtime victory against No. 15 Saint Mary’s in West Coast Conference play in Los Angeles.
Shelton converted a tiebreaking three-point play to give the Lions a 74-71 lead with 52.7 seconds to play as they snapped a 21-game losing skid vs. Saint Mary’s. It marked Loyola Marymount’s second win in the last 34 meetings with the Gaels.
It also was the second huge upset of the season for the Lions (17-9, 7-5 WCC). Loyola Marymount beat then-No. 6 Gonzaga 68-67 on Jan. 19 in Spokane, Wash.
On Thursday, Logan Johnson scored a career-high 31 points and Aidan Mahaney added 24 for Saint Mary’s (21-5, 10-1), which had a 12-game winning streak halted. Alex Ducas scored 10 points.
Shelton forced overtime with a driving hoop with 2.7 seconds left and continued his strong play in the extra session.
Johnson’s layup with 38.4 seconds left in OT pulled the Gaels within one before Shelton added another layup to make it 76-73 with 8.7 seconds to play. Shelton then stole the ball with 2.4 seconds remaining and called timeout despite Loyola Marymount having none remaining.
The Lions were called for a technical foul and Ducas split the two shots. Loyola Marymount’s Keli Leaupepe hit two free throws with 1.8 seconds left to seal it.
Alex Merkviladze added 15 points for Loyola Marymount, which hit 46.4 percent of its shots and was 10 of 19 from behind the arc.
The Gaels shot 41.5 percent, including 7 of 22 from 3-point range.
Loyola Marymount crept within 60-58 on Shelton’s three-point play with 20.9 seconds to play in regulation.
Ducas was fouled before the ball was inbounded and made two three throws to give the Gaels a four-point edge. Ahrens then buried a 3-pointer as the Lions moved within 62-61 with 14.4 seconds left.
Mahaney split two free throws with 12 seconds left before Shelton easily drove the lane for the tying basket.
Johnson and Mahaney each connected on two 3-pointers as Saint Mary’s opened the game with 16 straight points.
Jalin Anderson made two free throws with 13:44 left in the half for the Lions’ first points.
The Gaels led 20-7 after Mitchell Saxen’s dunk with 11:06 remaining before Loyola Marymount rattled off 13 straight points. Merkviladze drained three straight 3-pointers to end the surge.
The Lions took their first lead at 23-22 on a 3-pointer by Leaupepe with 4:39 left in the half.
Saint Mary’s scored the last eight to hold a 30-23 lead at the break.
–Field Level Media