PASADENA, Calif. — Good bye — and good riddance.

The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team put an end to their season-opening six-game losing streak Thursday afternoon, cruising to an 87-37 nonconference victory over Cal-Tech.

Not only did Thursday's win earn the Cardinals their first win of the season, it also marked the first collegiate coaching victory for first-year head coach Mark Lovelace,

More important than either or those firsts, however, was the fact that Thursday's win put an end to SMU's longest losing streak in the program's history — a 22-gamer that dated back to Jan. 4, 2003, when the Cardinals knocked off St. John's 72.67.

John Gencius (Chicago, Ill.) led all scorers, netting a game-high 18 points for the Cardinals, who posted their highest-offensive output of the season. Jeff Tendall (LeClaire, Iowa) also finished in double figrues for the Cardinals, scoring 15 points. All 14 players that made the trip scored at least one point as SMU (1-6 overall) shot 46 percent from the field (36-for-78).

The Cardinals put the game out of reach early, jumping out to a 37-5 halftime advantage. Cal-Tech, which has now lost seven straight, made just 1 of 20 field goals in the first half, while SMU connected on 16 of 39.