Freshman Keion Bell and senior point guard Ryan Holmes once again came through in the clutch to lead the Pepperdine men’s basketball team to a very happy Homecoming and a 57-52 victory over San Diego in a West Coast Conference game on Thursday evening at Firestone Fieldhouse. The Waves (8-18 5-5) ended a nine-game losing streak to the Toreros (13-13 5-6). The Waves’ victory also gives them their most conference wins since 2005. Pepperdine now has a three-game winning streak notable because it’s the first one this season and the Waves’ first in WCC play since February 2004. Coupled with Thursday’s 66-60 win over Santa Clara this is Pepperdine’s first two-game weekend sweep in WCC action since January 2005. Bell (Los Angeles Calif./Pasadena HS) a freshman guard had game highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. He also had five steals and four assists. Twelve of Bell’s points came in the second half. Holmes (Phoenix Ariz./Millennium HS/Phoenix CC) a senior guard added 17 points and three assists. The Waves trailed by 11 points in the first half and earned their second straight double-digit comeback victory. Pepperdine led 30-28 at halftime and for nearly the entire second half but had to hold off a USD rally that saw the Toreros take a potential go-ahead three-point attempt with 16 seconds left. It was another stellar defensive effort by Pepperdine which held USD to 33.9% shooting. The Waves made just enough of their shots hitting 36.2% and also had a 46-32 advantage on the boards. “In the last three games we’ve really defended people Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said. We’ve won on the defensive end no question about it. We made it interesting at the end and we were able to come back from a big deficit again. But we kept our poise and we’ve showed that we’re maturing. This was a great effort. Our mantra has been that we want to finish empty with each guy leaving it all on the floor and that’s what we’ve been doing. “Ryan and Keion were both really solid really played well. Keion gets stronger as the game goes on and is making big plays at the end. He doesn’t feel the magnitude of the game or situation he just plays. Ryan has done everything you’d want in a fifth-year senior point guard.” In the first meeting with the Toreros in San Diego the Waves fell behind by the score of 13-2. Tonight Pepperdine was behind 12-2 after three minutes and USD later built 11-point leads at 19-8 and 21-10. It was still a 10-point game at 24-14 with a little more than five minutes to play when the Waves began to take charge. Over the next 3 _ minutes the Waves went on a 14-0 run and Holmes led the way with seven points (he had 11 in the first half). He began the streak with a reverse lay-up and ended it with a long jumper and a three-pointer. His last basket gave the Waves a 28-24 lead with 1:35 left. USD tied the game again at 28-28 but Bell let the game clock wind down before driving in for a lay-up just before the buzzer giving the Waves a 30-28 halftime lead. The Toreros took their only lead of the second half at 35-34 but Holmes gave the Waves the lead back with a three-pointer. Pepperdine was still ahead by two at 41-39 when Bell scored the final six points of a 7-0 run to push the advantage to 48-39 with 6:25 left. The Waves still led by nine at 52-43 after Holmes’ fast-break lay-up with 2:30 left. But Pepperdine was careless with the ball a couple of times and USD scored the next six points to make the score 52-49 with 1:45 left. Bell sank a short jumper to beat the shot clock with 1:15 remaining giving the Waves a five-point lead again at 54-49. USD’s Rob Jones drained a three-pointer with 33 seconds left to make it a two-point game at 54-52. Another turnover gave USD a chance to take the lead on Danny Brown’s three-point attempt but Bell collected his 10th rebound of the game and was fouled. He sank both free throws to make the score 56-52 with 14.2 seconds remaining. After a USD miss Holmes sealed the victory with a free throw with six seconds left and ended the contest with a steal.
Bell receives WCC honor
Bell has also been named the West Coast Conference’s Player of the Week following the Waves’ victories over Santa Clara and San Diego it was announced Monday. Bell (Los Angeles Calif./Pasadena HS) averaged 16.0 points 7.5 rebounds 4.5 assists and 3.5 steals in leading Pepperdine to the two victories. The Waves beat the Broncos 66-60 on Thursday (Feb. 12) and the Toreros 57-52 on Saturday (Feb. 14) both in Firestone Fieldhouse. He had 14 points five rebounds five assists and two steals against Santa Clara. As the Waves rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit his two free throws gave Pepperdine the lead for good with 1:56 left. He then collected his third double-double of the season with game highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds against San Diego as well as five steals and four assists. Bell scored 12 of Pepperdine’s final 15 points of the game as the Waves held off the Toreros. The five steals were the most by a Pepperdine player this season. Bell is averaging team highs of 12.7 points per game overall (13th in the WCC and third among conference freshmen) and 16.1 points in conference play (seventh in the WCC and second among freshmen). Bell has scored in double-figures in nine of 10 conference games including eight in a row. He led Pepperdine to a number of notable feats over the weekend. The Waves’ current three-game conference win streak is their first since February 2004. It was Pepperdine’s first two-game weekend sweep in WCC action since January 2005. Pepperdine now has five conference wins its most since the 2005 season. The Waves also ended a nine-game losing streak to USD. Bell is Pepperdine’s first WCC Player of the Week honoree since Chase Griffin won the award in February 2007. He’s the first Pepperdine freshman to win the award since Shaun Davis in December 2003.