Loyola Marymount 65, St. Mary’s 61--The Lions,...

Loyola Marymount 65, St. Mary’s 61--The Lions, predicted by many to finish in last place, clinched a fifth-place tie in the conference with the victory before 1,714 at Gersten Pavilion.

The Lions (9-18, 5-9) finished in a tie with San Francisco but will be seeded sixth in the conference tournament because the Dons won both meetings this season. Loyola will play third-seeded Santa Clara, which helped out the Lions on Saturday by defeating Portland, 77-65, dropping Portland behind Loyola in the standings.

For the Lions, a 9-18 record is nothing to shout about, but it is a long way from last season, when the Lions were 2-26 and 0-14.

“Nobody dreamed we’d finish that high in conference,” Loyola Coach Steve Aggers said.

This season has been a bad dream for St. Mary’s (2-26, 0-14).

The Gaels fumbled away their final chance to win a conference game by going scoreless in the final 4:56.

Loyola scored the game’s final 11 points. The turning point came in a key four-point, 26-second sequence when the Lions grabbed offensive rebounds on the back end of two-shot free throws by Philipp Czernin and Greg Lakey.

“That whole stretch of time, we played with as much intensity and passion as we have in the last game and a half,” Aggers said.

Despite getting his fourth foul with 16:59 left, Lakey played big in the final minutes. He had two of his four blocks while the game was still in doubt and finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

“I just wanted to give the team a little spark and some edge,” Lakey said. “I’ve been doing the same things on defense all game, they just decided not to call it [in the second half].”

Marcus Smith had a career-high 19 points off the bench, 15 coming in the first half.