Loyola Finds Gaels Defenseless, 150-119

Defense used to be state of the art for Paul Landreaux when he coached El Camino College to two state basketball titles and led California community colleges in defensive average five times.

But Landreaux’s defense was in a sorry state Thursday when his St. Mary’s team met Loyola Marymount’s offense of the 1990s in Gersten Pavilion.

Loyola scored the most points ever allowed by the Gaels on the way to a 150-119 victory.

The Lions also broke the West Coast Conference scoring record of 147, which Loyola set last February against Gonzaga.

The previous high against the Gaels was 124 by Nevada Las Vegas in March, 1976. The victory, Loyola’s ninth in a row, raised the Lions to 16-3 overall and 7-0 at the midway point of the WCC race.

St. Mary’s fell to 6-13 and 3-4.

Hank Gathers, in his biggest performance in nearly two months, had 44 points and 13 rebounds. He made 18 of 22 shots.

Bo Kimble added 31 points and Jeff Fryer and Terrell Lowery scored 18 each for Loyola.

“They’re tough to prepare for. Who do you find to push the ball like that (in practice),” Landreaux said. “But truthfully, there’s not much we can do to slow them down until we get some more players in here. We’re going back to the hotel and say some rosaries and try to wipe this one out of our minds. And hope we have enough strength and stamina left to play Pepperdine (tonight).”

Aided by 19 St. Mary’s fouls and 18 turnovers, Loyola pulled away from a 39-35 lead with a 18-4 burst in the latter part of the first half.

Two consecutive baskets by Gathers and a steal and dunk by Tom Peabody gave the Lions a 57-39 lead with 5:30 left in the half. Soon afterward, the lead grew to 77-53 on a three-point basket by Lowery.

Gathers, whose 10-of-12 shooting helped put St. Mary’s entire front line in foul trouble by halftime--center Eric Bamberger and forward James Dailey had four apiece and forward Demetreus Robbins three--had 24 points, Kimble 19 and Fryer 14 by the break.

Loyola made 17 of 28 free throws in the first half, to four of eight by the Gaels.

Things didn’t get better in the second half.

Bamberger fouled out 20 seconds into the period and Loyola quickly built leads of more than 30 points.

Loyola broke the 100-point barrier with 10 minutes remaining and broke St. Mary’s record for points allowed with more than eight minutes left.

Terry Burns scored 28 points for St. Mary’s, and sophomore Andre Durity, out of Fairfax High in Los Angeles, added a career-high 21.