Pepperdine Holds Lead by Holding Off Gonzaga

Pepperdine’s Dave Brittain made six free throws down the stretch against Gonzaga Saturday night and the Waves pulled out a 59-55 win before 2,803 fans at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

The Waves (16-7, 5-1) held on to first place in the West Coast Athletic Conference. Santa Clara and St. Mary’s each won Saturday night and are each 4-1 and tied for second in the WCAC race.

Pepperdine shot only 43% in the first half and wasn’t getting many second shots as Gonzaga’s 6-10 Tim Ruff and 6-9 Jason van Nort controlled the offensive boards.

But the Waves still led, 26-22, at the end of the first half.

In the second half, Gonzaga (13-6, 2-2) took a 27-26 lead by continuing to go to its big men. Van Nort finished with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Ruff added 20 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Bulldogs stretched their lead to 40-34 with 12:25 left in the game.

But the Waves went on a 10-0 scoring spurt, including two steals and two dunks by Anthony Frederick. That gave Pepperdine a 44-40 lead with 9:15 on the clock.

Frederick, who also blocked seven shots, almost became the game’s goat in the waning minutes.

Gonzaga Coach Jay Hillock instructed his team to foul Frederick, a poor shooter at the line, and Frederick missed six free throws in the last 3 1/2 minutes to keep the Bulldogs in the game.

But if Frederick was poor at the line, Brittain was solid, hitting 7 of 8 free throws in the game, three times making both ends of one-and-one situations in the closing minutes.

Brittain, a reserve junior forward, also led the Waves with 13 points, while Dwayne Polee added 12 points and Eric White 10.