SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- St. Mary's has a rebuilt engine, and it sure can hum.

Looking to stop the skid of 10 straight losing seasons, St. Mary's first-year coach Frank Laporte appears to have the ingredients for a winning campaign this year after his Gaels drubbed Azusa Pacific, 96-59, in the championship game of the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Tournament Saturday night.  Maurice Harper led a quartet of Gaels in double-digit scoring with a game-high 22 points, while Mike Rozenski chipped in with 18.

In this, the first meeting ever between the two programs, the Gaels bolted out to a 17-4 lead in the opening minutes of play and never let Azusa Pacific gain a glimmer of hope the rest of the way.  St. Mary's led 45-25 at halftime, and kept the sprint going in the second half as 10 different Gaels scored in the game.  One of the tallest teams APC has ever faced, the St. Mary's frontline features 3 starters at least 6-foot-8 in stature and starts at guard a 6-foot-6 player.  As a result, the Cougars were confounded on offense throughout the night, as evidenced by their 32% (24-for-74) shooting from the floor.

Senior forward Dennis Vanzant led Azusa Pacific with 19 points, and junior guard Ric Reed added 10, but he was just 5-for-17 shooting from the floor. 

Rozenski was named tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by Vanzant.

The 37-point loss is the Cougars' largest since falling to Cal Poly Pomona by 39 (101-62) in 1966.

With the setback, APC falls to 3-2 on the young season while St. Mary's improves to 3-0, and becomes the first team other than the host Mustangs to win the Cal Poly SLO Tournament.