Waves Rally to Beat Broncos, 97-90, Clinch a Title Tie

Pepperdine used its favorite formula Saturday night as the Waves, who trailed Santa Clara, 45-40, at halftime, roared back to beat the Broncos, 97-90, before 3,104 fans at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

It was the ninth time this season that Pepperdine won after being behind at the half, and the win clinched a first-place tie in the West Coast Athletic Conference for the Waves, who play their final two conference games at home, against San Diego Thursday and Loyola Saturday.

With its second league win over Santa Clara this season, Pepperdine made its record 9-1 in the WCAC and 21-8 overall. Second-place Santa Clara fell to 6-3 and 17-8.

Leading scorers for Pepperdine were Eric White and Jon Korfas with 20 points each while Dwayne Polee added 17 for the Waves.

But Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick said that Polee’s defense on Santa Clara guard Harold Keeling was the key to the game.

Keeling started out as if he was going to beat Pepperdine all by himself. In the first half, he scored 18 points on 8 for 10 shooting and had help from his teamates. The Broncos, working mostly inside, hit 18 of 25 field goals (72%) and cooled off to 60% for the game.