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MALIBU, CALIF. — With four starters finishing in double figures, the men’s basketball team (9-18, 3-12) emerged victorious over Portland, 70-65, on Feb. 18.
Senior Taylor Darby led the team with 17 points and six rebounds, freshman Jordan Baker followed close behind with 17 points and five rebounds, and senior Corbin Moore added a solid 10 points and eight rebounds.
Considering the outcome, the first half proved to be a warm-up for the Waves. Back-to-back buckets in the key helped the team gain a 16-12 lead over the Pilots (6-21, 3-11) with 10 minutes remaining.
However, the Pilots capitalized after a couple of missed three-pointers by the Waves, and managed to take the lead. Portland carried their slim lead to the end of the half, 27-26.
Baker kicked off the scoring for the Waves in the second half, putting his team up 31-29.
Highlights for the Waves from the second half included a pinpoint no look assist from junior guard Joshua Lowery to junior guard Caleb Willis, and a dunk by Darby off of a dish from Moore.
On defense, the team held up stronger in the second half, forcing turnovers at key possessions to gain a commanding lead.
In the beginning of the second half a tough defensive play combined with a forced turnover and a three-pointer by Moore, gave the Waves a 36-31 lead. Then, after a three-pointer by the Pilots, the team jumped out on a four point run to put the Waves ahead, 47-34, the largest lead of the game.
Portland’s athletic freshman guard Kevin Bailey tore up the Waves on the offensive end with 18 points. Bailey scored 10 of those points in the second half, including a dunk.
To add to that, the Pilots developed a hot hand within the last three minutes of the match-up, and were able to close the gap, but the Waves’ second half 82.4 percent free throw shooting was enough to fend them off.
The team has one more conference game at Santa Clara on Feb. 23 before traveling to Las Vegas for the WCC Tournament.
Other game notables include that the Pepperdine coaching staff sported dark blue bowties in support of raising awareness for Prostate Cancer. Many men’s basketball program alumni were also in attendance for the senior night game, along with former Pepperdine hall of fame coach Jim Harrick.