The Pepperdine Men’s basketball team made the most of their home court advantage as they were dominant in their 62-40 victory Wednesday night versus the University of California Riverside. Jordan Baker lead the waves off of the bench scoring 13 points as redshirt senior, Lorne Jackson and Junior Nikolas Skouen each contributed 11.
The fan support in the Fieldhouse undoubtedly pumped up the Waves as they went on a 19-0 run that eventually sucked the life out of Riverside’s Highlanders. UC Riverside now drops to 2-7 on the season as Pepperdine extends their record to 5-3. The Highlanders, however, started the game out strong with a 14-6 lead which originally stunned the Waves as they were unable to recover until late into the first half. Baker’s hot hand from behind the arc gave the Waves momentum as they began to make a run for the lead and never look back.
Coach Marty Wilson was pleased with his team’s performance as he explained the difference was the boy’s willingness to play for one another. Any style of selfish basketball was pushed aside, as each member of the team, from the starting five all the way to the bench, was able to contribute in the Waves’ triumphant win.
Pepperdine is back in action this weekend as they travel to Honolulu to face off against 4-2 Hawaii.
