LOS ANGELES — No. 15 Saint Mary's entered Thursday night's road game against Loyola Marymount as one of the hottest teams in the country. Winners of 12-straight, the Gaels were the only team left in the West Coast Conference without a loss. That changed, as the LMU Lions mounted a second-half comeback, forced overtime, and beat the Gaels 78-74 for their second win over a ranked WCC team this season. Saint Mary's drops to 21-5 (10-1) and remains in first place in the conference.
 
PERFECT START
A few things have been constant eternal lights for the Gaels during the season: early runs and great defense. That was on display in the first six minutes of the game, as SMC raced out to a 16-0 lead. The Gaels were shooting well, going 6-9 from the field and 4-6 from beyond the arc. It wasn't just the offense that was lighting up the board early, it was the defense that was smothering LMU on the other side. LMU missed its first six shots of the night, and on four other possessions, turned the ball over.
 
THE STRUGGLE WITHIN
LMU stormed right back despite the Gaels hot start, so much so that they actually took the lead. After Saint Mary's got the next 16, the Lions responded with a 23-6 run that put them in front for the first time in the game. Suddenly, it was Saint Mary's with the self-inflicted wounds, turning the ball over four times during a five-minutes span where the Lions clawed their way back into the game. After the onslaught from LMU, the Lions did not score over the final 4:39 of the half, which helped the Gaels score the final eight and take a 30-23 lead into the halftime break.
 
TOTAL TAKEOVER
It felt like the second half was going to be the Logan Johnson vs. Cam Shelton show, as both standout guards took over the second half and starting making shot after shot. On the SMC side, Johnson was the best player on the floor late in the game, and he finished with a career-best 31 points, the first time he's eclipsed 30 points in a game in his career. 23 of those 31 points came in the second half and overtime, including a 4-4 from the field performance in OT. Shelton was even better, scoring all 31 of his points after the first half, and 26 of the Lions final 35 points of the game.
 
OVERTIME
An extra period of basketball was created when Shelton hit a layup with seconds on the clock to tie the score at 63-63. Aidan Mahaney hit the first layup of overtime to give the Gaels a two-point lead, and then both teams traded buckets for what seemed like the entire period. With the score tied at 71-71, Shelton laid one in with a foul on top to put the Lions up by three, and the Gaels were never able to recover. The Lions were a perfect 5-5 from the field and 5-5 at the line in overtime.
 
AMONG OTHER NUMBERS
Saint Mary's held LMU to just six made field goals in the first half, all from three-point range…overshadowed by the career-best performance from Johnson was Mahaney, who scored 24 points (one shy of his career best), and added four rebounds with four assists…the Gaels were without a bench point in the game, as all five starters scored exclusively…this is the first loss for Saint Mary's inside Gersten Pavilion since Jan. 23, 2006…this is also the first time this season a team has scored more than 70 points in a game on the Gaels.
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels now reverse course and head up north for a contest with the Portland Pilots, taking place on Saturday at 3:00 pm. Saint Mary's has already faced Portland once this season, and the game wasn't particularly close, with the Gaels routing the Pilots in Moraga by a final of 85-43. That game represents the most the Gaels have scored in a game this season, while also standing as the fewest points they've allowed in a game. The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.