LOS ANGELES -- — Paulius Murauskas scored 18 points, including a pivotal 3-pointer with 30 seconds left, and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead No. 23 Saint Mary's past Loyola Marymount 58-55 on Thursday night for its sixth straight victory.

The Gaels, making their first appearance in the AP Top 25 this season, took the lead for good on a putback by Murauskas with 6:08 to play in the first half amid a 16-2 run that made it 24-17 when Mikey Lewis hit a 3 about five minutes later.

Saint Mary's (26-4, 16-1 West Coast Conference) clinched its second consecutive outright regular-season conference title with a 74-67 win at Gonzaga last time out.

Caleb Stone-Carrawell led Loyola Marymount (16-14, 8-10) with 17 points, and Will Johnston scored 12.

Mitchell Saxen played his program-record 151st career game for the Gaels, breaking the mark set by Alex Ducas (2019-24). Saxen fouled out with about five minutes left and finished with seven rebounds.

Harry Wessels, a 7-foot-1 junior, had nine points, eight rebounds and two blocks for Saint Mary’s.

Takeaways

Saint Mary's: The Gaels showed grit and resilience, grinding out a win despite sporadic shooting (38% overall, 4 of 15 from 3-point range) and Saxen's foul trouble.

Loyola Marymount: LMU showed it can play with the top team in the league and will be a tough out in the conference tournament.

Key moment

Murauskas, a 31% shooter from 3-point range, hit a corner 3 as the shot clock expired that gave the Gaels a 57-51 lead.

Key stat

Saint Mary's outrebounded the Lions 43-26, including 12-2 on the offensive glass, and outscored Loyola Marymount 10-2 in second-chance points.

Up next

Saint Mary's returns home to wrap up its regular season against Oregon State on Saturday. Loyola Marymount awaits the conference tournament, which begins March 6 in Paradise, Nevada.

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This story corrects Loyola Marymount's overall and conference records.

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