Not often is a coach disappointed with his team's offensive performance when it shoots 57.5 percent from the field and wins by 12 points.

However, Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett had some issues with his team's play after the No. 19 Gaels defeated Loyola Marymount 72-60 on Thursday in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams in Los Angeles.

"Proud of our team, it was a really good win on the road," Bennett said. "We played well in some areas, but we have to do a better job taking care of the ball. We had a season high in turnovers, so we got to take of the ball better in conference play."

The Gaels, who pride themselves on being efficient offensively and limiting mistakes, gave the ball away 19 times.

Saint Mary's (11-1) made up for that by limiting the Lions to 35.6 percent shooting.

Emmett Naar led the Gaels with 19 points and five assists, while center Jock Landale had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Joe Rahon contributed 11 points and seven assists, and Calvin Hermanson added 10 points for the Gaels.

The Lions (7-5) got as close as a point midway through the second half, but they could never take the lead against the Gaels, who won their 10th straight over Loyola Marymount.

"The game pivoted on why they're 10-1, now 11-1: They made the key plays and we didn't," Lions coach Mike Dunlap said.

Trevor Manuel led the Lions with 18 points off the bench. Lions center Stefan Jovanovic scored only six points and was limited to 16 minutes of playing time before fouling out.

"The key point here for me is when we lost Stef Jovanovic," Dunlap said, "because you saw what he did when he came back in the second half."

Jovanovic scored consecutive baskets during the Loyola Marymount surge that reduced an 11-point deficit with 18:07 left to 42-41 with 11:08 remaining.

The Lions still trailed by just four when he fouled out with 9:41 left, and they were unable to keep pace after that.

Four Loyola Marymount players fouled out, and the Gaels had a huge advantage in free throws, taking 33 foul shots (making 20) compared with 17 free throws (with 11 made) for Loyola Marymount.

"I think what our organization has to earn is respect," Dunlap said regarding the foul discrepancy, "and I think we're making that climb. I look at a foul as a mistake. If we can eliminate those things where the foul line isn't the disparity, we have a chance to win a lot of games."

Brandon Brown, the Lions' leading scorer this season, finished with 11 points on 4-of-18 shooting from the field. Steven Haney Jr., who scored 24 points in Loyola Marymount's previous game against Morgan State, scored only two Thursday.

Saint Mary's led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but things got tight in the second half, as the Lions cut the deficit to one point when Kelvin Amayo scored with 11:08 left.

Loyola Marymount failed to score on its ensuing possession when it had a chance to take the lead, and a 3-point shot by Naar at 10:08 ended the Lions' run.

A bucket by Landale and two free throws by Rahon pushed the margin back to six.

A 3-point shot by Manuel, who hit all four of his long-range attempts, got the deficit back down to three points, but a Rahon 3-pointer put the Gaels in control for good.

"It was great to win our first conference game on the road," Landale said. "Our toughness pulled us through tonight."

NOTES: Loyola Marymount F Shamar Johnson, who started the first 10 games, sat out his second straight game with a concussion. ... Freshman G Erik Johansson made his first career start for Loyola Marymount on Thursday. He scored eight points. ... The Gaels entered the day ranked third in the nation in scoring defense, yielding 57.5 points per game, and were fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.74). ...Saint Mary's plays a home against San Diego on Saturday, while Loyola Marymount hosts BYU the same day.