Sophomore guard Styles Phipps looks to make a drive toward the basket in a game against Long Beach State in the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on Dec. 18. Phipps was the game’s leading scorer with 25 points. Photos courtesy of Rasheed Riveroll Castillo
Pepperdine Men’s Basketball traveled down the coast to face California State University, Long Beach in the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on Dec. 18. The game was a back-and-forth battle that saw 17 lead changes through the 40 minutes, but ultimately, the Waves fell in an 81-78 final score.
Pepperdine led for the majority of the game, with Long Beach only taking their first lead in the second half. The weak spot for the Waves were their turnovers, where they gave up 18 of them compared to the Beach’s nine.
“At the end of the day, too many turnovers is the biggest issue,” Head Coach Ed Schilling said. “I thought we battled pretty hard, but we gave up too many turnovers. Points off turnovers kill this.”
Pepperdine got off to a quick start, scoring five unanswered points including a three from sophomore forward/center Danilo Dozic to put the visitors up early. The Waves stayed ahead with some electric plays all across the court that had the Pyramid cheering.
Sophomore forward/center Danilo Dozic looks for a play against Long Beach State in the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on Dec. 18. Dozic scored an early three to put Pepperdine up early in the game.
Backward layups, alley oops and redshirt freshman center Stefan Cicic’s slam dunk were highlights from the first half until Pepperdine lost their lead with 6:13 left on the clock.
Long Beach junior guard Cole Farrell scored the equalizing points to even the game out 27-27 with 6:19 on the clock, forcing a timeout. The Waves responded with a redshirt sophomore guard Aaron Clark three pointer to pull back ahead.
The teams continued to chip back and forth, leading to two timeouts being called in the last 30 seconds of the half. Pepperdine continued to ride this momentum from Clark for the rest of the half, finishing narrowly ahead 37-36 after sophomore forward Yonatan Levy scored the final basket.
Redshirt sophomore guard Aaron Clark passes the ball in a game against Long Beach State in the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on Dec. 18. The Waves had 18 turnovers to Long Beach’s nine throughout this game.
Dozic scored the first bucket of the second half, draining a three 40 seconds in. Long Beach State came out with some fight in them, going basket for basket and even pulling ahead to take their first lead of the game.
After Dozic’s score, freshman guard Gavin Sykes scored a second chance jumper before Farrell had an electric slam dunk to tie the game 40-40. Some more back and forth between the teams led to a bucket and a pair of made free throws from Sykes to give Long Beach their first lead 44-43.
Pepperdine quickly responded with a hook shot jumper by Dozic again, but Sykes scored his third basket in a row, this time a three pointer, to keep the home team ahead 47-45.
Sophomore guard Styles Phipps evened the score out with a basket, tying the game 47-47 before a timeout was called. The Beach came out of the break hot, draining one with 14:49 left in the half.
For nearly the next two minutes, the teams went back and forth without a score. Turnovers of all kinds filled the time before LBSU added another basket to their lead off a score by Sykes with 12:54 left.
“Offensively, we turned the ball over too much, and they were able to capitalize on that,” Graduate guard/forward Javon Cooley said. “Even though we won the rebounding battle, we gave up some big ones and had a few defensive breakdowns down the stretch.”
Pepperdine responded with another electric alley oop, as Phipps fed Cooley a beauty for the score. This was followed by a Levy three to put the Waves back up 53-51.
Sophomore forward Yonatan Levy looks for a teammate in a game against Long Beach State played in the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on Dec. 18. With this loss, Pepperdine drops to 4-8 on the season.
The teams kept exchanging baskets, tying 58-58 following a Dozic three before a timeout was called. This break woke up Cooley, who went on to score six of the next 11 baskets for the Waves.
“My teammates did a great job finding me in the right spots, and I just stayed confident,” Cooley said. “Even though I didn’t have my best first half, I trusted my work and kept shooting.”
Cooley finished with 17 points, but Phipps was the game’s lead scorer with 25 points. He also saw the most floor time out of anyone in the game, playing 35:51 out of the full 40.
“Styles [Phipps] had a big time game,” Schilling said. “He really penetrated, found guys and got shots for himself.”
With less than a minute on the clock, the visitors were still fighting as they trailed 78-76. As Long Beach stalled in an effort to run the time out, turnovers gave Pepperdine some final chances.
After Cooley collected a defensive rebound and found Phipps, the sophomore guard made a drive to the basket but a huge block by Long Beach graduate guard Shaquil Bender stunted that momentum. A trio of free throws, including two given to Rob Diaz III after a personal foul on Cooley, put the home team up 81-78.
Graduate guard/forward Javon Cooley goes for the basket against Long Beach State on Dec. 18 in the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid. Cooley was the second leading scorer for Pepperdine with 17 points.
With fewer than 10 seconds on the clock, Pepperdine found themselves on the offensive again. Swinging it around, Clark had one more three-point attempt but was unsuccessful, as the Waves fell to the Beach and dropped to 4-8 on the season.
Despite the loss, Schilling said there were some positives from his team’s performance and fight. In the tight final score, there were still shining moments on both defense and offense for the Waves.
“We had some breakdowns against their pick and roll, and offensively, we shot the ball extremely well,” Schilling said.
This game was one of Pepperdine’s final match ups before they begin West Coast Conference (WCC) play. The Gonzaga Bulldogs will travel to Malibu on Dec. 28 to kick off the WCC season/ Pepperdine will honor former players for a T-Shirt Giveaway on Alumni Night during this game, where the first 100 fans will receive a free “Beat the ‘Zags” shirt, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
“This was another opportunity for us to learn and clean things up before conference play,” Cooley said. “We know we’re capable of playing better than we did tonight, and we’ll take a step forward heading into Saturday.”
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