Loyola Marymount Bows Out by Losing to Santa Clara, 71-61

Loyola Marymount was eliminated from title contention in the West Coast Athletic Conference Saturday night, losing to Santa Clara, 71-61.

The Lions are 18-9 overall and 10-3 in the WCAC, while Pepperdine, which beat USF Saturday night, is 12-1 in the conference.

Against Loyola, Santa Clara made 21 of 23 free throws (91.3%) to tie a school record for free-throw accuracy. The Broncos hit 58% of their field-goal attempts, compared to 47% for Loyola.

The Broncos held Loyola’s Keith Smith to 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting and Forrest McKenzie to 11 on 5-of-14 shooting.

McKenzie fouled out with four minutes left.

The Broncos had five players scoring in double figures, Forward Jens Gordon had 12 points and 7 rebonds, while forward Steve Kenilbort and center Dan Weiss each had 11.

Loyola’s reserve center Vic Lazzaretti was the game’s high scorer with 16 points, hitting 7 of 8 shots. He also had a game-high nine rebounds.

Santa Clara improved to 11-16 overall and 6-7 in the conference.