Carter leads Saint Mary’s over LMU

If the Saint Mary’s Gaels (17-7) are going to make a late WCC run, their ability to hit the three-point shot will be the X-factor. They got back on track in a 77-58 victory on the road against LMU (11-13).

Junior guard Kerry Carter gave the Gaels a spark of offense early on, hitting four three-pointers in the first half. Saint Mary’s got off to a quick start, going up 14-0 to begin the game and were up by as much as 16 before the Lions began a rally before the half.

Despite only getting one point and no rebounds from leader Brad Waldow, the Gaels lead 37-31 going into the break.

Stephen Holt was getting his way offensively, scoring at ease every time he drove to the basket. The senior point guard finished with 17 points on 8-10 shooting.

In the second half, Waldow began to get things going down low and led the run to give the Gaels a 19 point win. He finished with 12 points on the night.

Carter finished with 20 points while forward Beau Levesque added 17 and 14 rebounds.

The Gaels shot 58.5% for the game while holding LMU to 43.1%. Also for the second time this year, Holt played solid defense on Anthony Ireland who finished well below his season average with 13 points on 4-12 shooting.

Next up the Gaels will face off against Pepperdine (14-10) on Saturday, who has done well at home this season during the WCC, winning 5 of 6 games.