Cougar Tournament : Pepperdine Beats Brigham Young for Championship

Dwayne Polee and Levy Middlebrooks led Pepperdine to the championship of the Cougar tournament Saturday night as the Waves beat Brigham Young, 83-73, before 13,898 fans.

Polee scored 20 points and handled the ball well when it mattered, and Middlebrooks, working down low against taller opposition, scored 20 and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Pepperdine’s record improves to 6-1, while BYU falls to 2-5.

Jeff Chatman scored a team-high 19 points for BYU, and Bob Capener scored 18 points, most of them coming from 22 feet and farther. BYU’s Alan Pollard had 18 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick said: “In order to win a game of this magnitude, one guy has to step in and take charge.” Harrick was fortunate, he got two take-charge guys in Polee and Middlebrooks.

Polee was named the tournament’s most valuable player, while Middlebrooks and Jon Korfas, who had 11 points and nine assists for the Waves, were named to the all-tournament team. Others named to the team were BYU’s Chatman and Cedric Wright of Western Illinois.

Harrick said that he thought Polee, who has been bothered by a couple of injuries, “probably played as good a game as he has all year.”

In the consolation game, Cal State Long Beach made some key plays in the closing minutes and came from behind to edge Western Illinois, 51-49.

The 49ers raised their record to 3-4. Western Illinois dropped to 4-5.

With 2:35 left and the 49ers trailing, 49-47, DeAnthony Langston blocked a shot, was fouled at the other end and hit two free throws to tie it up.

Then Reggie Wallace and Billy Walker tied up Western Illinois guard Dwayne Presswood and took over on the possession rule. Walker then hit a 12-foot jumper to give the 49ers a 51-49 lead.

With 1:23 remaining, Wallace got off a shot as the 45-second clock ran out but missed. Walker got the rebound and the 49ers began a stall.

Walker missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, and Western Illinois called time out with five seconds remaining.

But a 23-foot jumper by Daryl Reed at the buzzer bounced off the rim, and the 49ers escaped with the win.

Morlon Wiley scored 18 points and had five assists for the 49ers, while Langston scored 17 and blocked three shots.

Wright scored a game-high 22 points for Western Illinois.