Lions Roar Past Portland by 25 : Loyola Marymount: Gathers has 27 points and Kimble only 26, his lowest total since early December, in a 131-106 rout.

Only four games into West Coast Conference play, Loyola Marymount has nearly lapped the field.

The latest blowout came Saturday night, a 131-106 victory over Portland before a sellout crowd of 4,156 in Gersten Pavilion.

In winning their sixth in a row, the No. 21-ranked Lions improved to 13-3 overall and 4-0 in the WCC.

Portland (5-12, 2-2) joined the seven other teams in the WCC with at least two losses.

Five players scored in double figures for the Lions, led by Hank Gathers with 27 and Bo Kimble with 26--his lowest total since early December.

Terrell Lowery got 20 points and nine assists, while Jeff Fryer scored 18 on a variety of drives and layups instead of his usual long-range bombs. Per Stumer had 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Along the way, Gathers grabbed nine rebounds, giving him 1,006 for his college career. He has 866 with the Lions and 140 as a freshman at USC. He is second on Loyola’s all-time list behind Jim Haderlein’s 1,161.

Portland wasn’t the pushover it has been the last few seasons.

Loyola pulled away quickly, building a 15-point lead in the early going as Kimble scored 15 points and Gathers 14.

But the Pilots, the surprise second-place team in the WCC, fought back behind leading scorer Josh Lowery, who got hot late in the first half and scored 15 of his 27 points as Portland cut the lead to single figures several times and trailed at halftime, 52-42.

The Lions pulled away in the second half, wearing down the Pilots as they stretched the lead to 76-53 on Tom Peabody’s steal and dunk with 13:24 to play. Portland never again got closer than 18.

The Lions hit 100 points with 6:04 left and expanded the lead to 30 on a three-point shot by Fryer with 3:16 remaining.

Forward William McDowell led the Pilots with 29 points, 23 in the second half.

Loyola Coach Paul Westhead, who anticipated the WCC would be more competitive than it has been, said with a grin: “But I’m very happy with the way it’s going.”

Westhead was amused at the ho-hum attitude among Loyola fans as the Lions raised their season scoring average above 120 points. They scored 144 points Friday night against Gonzaga.

“Deep down it really isn’t easy to score 130 points,” he said. “Even if it looks it.”

At this point, most other teams in the WCC might disagree.