STOCKTON, Calif. (Interstat) — Paulius Murauskas scored a career-high 32 points and Saint Mary’s used a dominant second half to pull away from Pacific for a 72-61 victory in a West Coast Conference men’s basketball game Saturday night at the A.C. Spanos Center.

The Gaels, who led by just two points at halftime, outscored the Tigers 44-31 after the break to secure their fourth consecutive win and improve to 23-4 overall. Pacific fell to 17-11.

The most important part of the game was a decisive 17-5 run by Saint Mary’s early in the second half that transformed a narrow 32-30 lead into a commanding 49-35 advantage. The surge was fueled almost entirely by Murauskas, the 6-foot-8 forward from Kaunas, Lithuania, who scored 11 points during the pivotal stretch. He hit a 3-pointer, converted a three-point play, and scored on a variety of drives and jumpers, overwhelming Pacific’s defense. The Tigers never recovered, never cutting the deficit below nine points the rest of the way.

Murauskas was efficient and relentless, adding three assists and a block in 37 minutes. His performance built upon a strong recent stretch, following games of 18, 20 and 10 points in his last three outings.

Joshua Dent provided crucial support for Saint Mary’s, finishing with 15 points and eight assists. The guard from Wollongong, Australia, played a game-high 40 minutes, directing the offense and contributing four steals. Andrew McKeever added nine points and four assists off the bench.

Pacific was led by Elias Ralph, who scored 17 points and blocked two shots. Jaden Clayton had 12 points and seven assists, while TJ Wainwright also scored 12 points for the Tigers.

The first half was a defensive struggle, with both teams shooting poorly and combining for 15 turnovers. Saint Mary’s led 28-30 at intermission despite Pacific closing the period on a 7-2 spurt, capped by a Wainwright jumper just before the buzzer.

The Gaels’ defense set the tone early in the second half, forcing several turnovers that ignited their game-breaking run. Saint Mary’s also controlled the paint, outrebounding Pacific and limiting the Tigers to one-shot possessions for long stretches.

A crowd of 2,090 watched as Saint Mary’s continued its strong conference campaign. According to Interstat’s ELO system, the Gaels entered the game with a 92.4 percent probability to win.

Saint Mary’s next plays at Seattle on Wednesday. Pacific travels to face Washington State, also on Wednesday.