MORAGA, CALIF. -- Junior reserve forward Yusef Smith scored his only basket of the game on a layup followed by a free throw with 1:51 left that broke a 61-61 tie, giving Saint Mary's the lead for good en route to a 72-66 victory against Drake Saturday night.

The Gaels, who have four starters back from last year's team which went 17-15, are picked to challenge perennial national power Gonzaga for the West Coast Conference title.

But scrappy Drake held its own against the taller Gaels erecting an eight-point lead in the second half before making only five of 23 shots in a 15-minute stretch.

The Bulldogs forced Saint Mary's into 22 turnovers and won the rebounding battle, 32-30.

Drake also held first-team All-WCC forward Diamon Simpson, who was Saint Mary's leading scorer with an 18.0 average, to just one basket. Simpson also committed five turnovers against Drake.

The Bulldogs collected 10 steals with Young and senior guard Adam Emmenecker recording three apiece.

"I can't fault our kids," said Drake head coach Keno Davis. "We had great effort, but Saint Mary's made some key shots down the stretch."

Saint Mary's sealed the victory by scoring five of its last eight points at the free throw line in the final 1:29.

Junior forward Jonathan Cox came off the bench to pace Drake with 18 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.

"Cox is giving us a nice threat," said Davis. "He has always been a good perimeter shooter, but now he has become multi dimensional for us with his continued development as a post player."

Sophomore guard Josh Young added 16 points for the Bulldogs before fouling out with 7 minutes 7 seconds.

There were 12 ties in the game before Smith's heroics.

A layup by Drake guard Adam Emmenecker with 1:22 left cut the margin to 65-63.

But senior guard Todd Golden drilled a three-point basket to push Saint Mary's lead to 68-63 with 48 seconds left.

Cox then missed a layup and forced to foul, Drake saw Saint Mary's score its last four points at the free throw line.

It was a tale of two halves for the Bulldogs.

Drake shot 54.2 percent from the floor in the first half en route to a 38-35 halftime lead.

Young and Cox combined for 23 points in the first half, with Young scoring 13 points on five of seven shooting from the floor

But Drake shot just 30.3 percent in the second half, making 10 of 33 shots.

The Bulldogs also committed 10 turnovers in the second half, including six unforced errors.

A layup by junior transfer forward Alex White, from a pass by Emmenecker, gave Drake a 40-35 lead with 18:21 left.

White then stole the ball from Saint Mary's Simpson and then fed Leonard Houston who made a three-point basket to give Drake its biggest lead of the game at 43-35 with 17:31 left.

Junior guard Carlin Hughes, one of four Australians on Saint Mary's, scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the second half.

Houston scored 11 points for Drake which will open its home season facing Cornell (Iowa College) this Wednesday.