GARRETT WAIT
Sports Editor
The Pepperdine men’s basketball team earned a much-needed win when they split on their road trip to the bay area this weekend. The Waves won a thriller in overtime against Santa Clara University but dropped a game to Saint Mary’s College. The Waves finish up their regular season Saturday night at home against local-rival Loyola Marymount University.
The Waves, who opened up the road trip with a 97-93 victory over Santa Clara, came out strong in the first half against the Broncos, shooting a sizzling-hot 48.5 percent from the floor. Pepperdine bolted out to a seven-point halftime lead but would need an equally strong performance in the second half to fend off the Broncos.
Santa Clara staged a comeback after halftime in large part to a 46-36 rebounding advantage over the Waves. The Broncos eventually tied the game with less than 30 seconds to play and missed a desperate jump shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.In overtime, the Waves dominated on the both ends of the court, outscoring the Broncos 15-11. Pepperdine shot 80 percent from the floor while holding Santa Clara to just 27.3 percent shooting. Freshman guard Kingsley Costain scored the first eight points of overtime for the Waves and finished the game with a career-high 21 points.
Pepperdine assistant coach Patrick Whitlock said Costain played huge in the overtime period.
“He was the key,” Whitlock said. “He scored the first eight points and was shooting with confidence. He put a couple daggers in their hearts. He was the difference.”
Joining Costain in double figures for the Waves was senior forward Glen McGowan, who led all scorers with 27 points, and junior guard Alex Acker who had 26 points on 11-for-14 shooting from the field, including a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point territory. McGowan also grabbed 13 rebounds in the game for his seventh double-double of the season.
The Waves, who had struggled from the free-throw line in previous games, shot a very respectable 78.5 percent from the charity stripe. McGowan, who is shooting just 67.7 percent from the free-throw line this season, connected on 11 of his 14 attempts in the game.
Pepperdine followed the victory against Santa Clara with a tough 81-69 loss at Saint Mary’s, who sits in second place in the West Coast Conference. The Waves couldn’t carry the momentum over to the game against the Gaels, and ended up losing to the Gaels for the second time this season.
Saint Mary’s took a one-point lead into halftime, which spelled doom for Pepperdine. The Waves have yet to win a game in which they trailed at the half this season, suffering 10 such losses.
Pepperdine was slowed in part by an ankle injury to Acker, which he suffered during the Santa Clara game. He likely would have been asked to guard Saint Mary’s leading scorer Paul Marigney if it weren’t for the injury. However, that task was handed down to Costain, who gave up eight inches to Marigney and was simply unable to contest shots.
Whitlock said Acker’s injury played a major role in the Waves’ loss.
“He played as well as he could play under the circumstances,” Whitlock said. “He’s a tough kid. He gave it a go when some kids would take it off. He wants to win. He wants to compete. Hopefully after a week off, he can come back and play at full speed against LMU.”
Marigney led all scorers with 32 points while Pepperdine’s leading scorer was senior forward Yakhouba Diawara, who had 23 points after fouling out of the game in Santa Clara with just nine points.
McGowan was the only other Wave in double figures, contributing 18 points of his own. The Gaels were able to stifle Pepperdine’s strength from beyond the three-point line, holding the Waves to just 5-for-19 shooting from behind the arc. Saint Mary’s also out-rebounded Pepperdine 38-31.
The Waves are 15-13 on the season and 5-8 in conference play. They sit in sixth place in the WCC heading into their final season game against LMU.
Last time the two teams hooked up, the Lions handed Pepperdine a 63-46 beating at Gersten Pavilion on the Loyola campus.
The coaches aren’t going to let the team forget how LMU fans reacted after beating the Waves for the first time in seven years.
“We’re just going to challenge our guys and tell them ‘Hey, this is our cross-town rival, we have to bring it,’” Whitlock said. “Last time we played them was probably the low point of my four years here. They were savoring the win, they tried to put a lay up in at the buzzer, they called a timeout with a minute and a half to go and their students rushed the court, and we haven’t forgotten that.”
Pepperdine hopes to avenge that loss at Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday night at 7. The Waves are also trying to muscle their way into a higher seed as the conference tournament fast approaches. The WCC tournament begins March 4 in Santa Clara.
02-24-2005
