Rahon's 22 paces No. 23 Saint Mary's past Pepperdine

MORAGA, Calif. -- Joe Rahon scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half and No. 23 Saint Mary's beat Pepperdine 85-65 on Saturday night.

Calvin Hermanson added 19 points and Jock Landale had 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Gaels (17-2, 7-1 West Coast Conference) led by double figures nearly the entire second half to give coach Randy Bennett his 350th career win.

Saint Mary's lost to Pepperdine twice during the regular season in 2016 before knocking the waves out of the postseason conference tournament.

It wasn't as close this time around despite another big night from Pepperdine's Lamond Murray Jr., who scored 29 points on 12 of 20 shooting. It's the fifth consecutive game in which Murray…