Men’s basketball wins two straight

Men’s basketball took a step in the right direction this past Saturday when they defeated Pomona-Pitzer 59-50 at Firestone Fieldhouse.
Junior guard Caleb “Tank” Willis paced the squad with a career high 18 points and four assists, and senior forward Taylor Darby added 14 points for the Waves (1-0), who won their first game under newly minted Head Coach Marty Wilson.
The Waves started off ahead early in the first, leading 17-10 after consecutive 3-pointers by senior guard Dane Suttle Jr. who came off the bench to infuse offense into the stagnant opening stanza.
However the Sagehens (0-1), members of Division III, answered the Waves’ first half push with a 15-9 run to end the half down only one (26-25), led by the stellar play of their bench that produced 13 of their 25 first-half points. Willis hit a 3-pointer with no time left on the clock to help the Waves escape to halftime with a lead.
The story of the second half was the domination on the boards by Pepperdine, led by the inspired play of center Corbin Moore who was held scoreless, but left his mark on the game with a team leading 10 rebounds. Darby added six of his own to add to the Waves’ 42-29 rebounding edge.
The offense woke up in the final seven minutes of play, with Pepperdine pulling away with a 9-0 run in 2:02 to take a 43-36 advantage. The Waves finished the last 1:22 of regulation shooting a near perfect 7 of 8 from the free throw line to seal the victory.
“It felt good to start the year off on a winning track with our new coach,” Suttle said after the game. “Hopefully we can bring excitement like that the rest of the year let people know to get ready for the waves.” Suttle finished with 8 points in 20 minutes off the bench for Pepperdine.
Pepperdine took on the Sun Devils of Arizona State on the road and came home with a 66-60 win at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Waves continue their two game trip with a match-up with CSU Bakersfield this Saturday at 7 p.m.