WCAC : Gonzaga Holds On to Second, Holds Off Loyola Marymount

Gonzaga tightened its grip on second pace in the West Coast Athletic Conference with a 93-88 victory over Loyola Marymount Thursday night.

Loyola (10-13 overall and 2-8 in the WCAC) trailed most of the game but climbed to within 88-83 with 36 seconds left on a three-point shot by Mark Armstrong. Loyola could get no closer as four Lions fouled out in the final two minutes.

Loyola has lost seven straight games since being in first place on Jan. 16.

Gonzaga (16-7, 7-3), which trails WCAC leader University of San Diego by 1 1/2 games, scored the last six points of the first half for a 50-42 lead. The Bulldogs built their lead to 79-62 before Loyola’s belated rally.

Pepperdine 81, Portland 66--Mike Cumberland and Craig Davis scored 18 points each as the Waves rallied in the second half for their first road victory of the season.

Pepperdine (9-14, 4-6), which lost its first nine road games of the season, was trailing at halftime, 35-32, but rallied by making 55% of its shots in the second half. Portland made just 31% after halftime.

Pepperdine took the lead for good, 40-39, on Eric White’s layup with 17:21 left. The Waves, nursing a 49-48 lead, broke open the game with a 20-6 run that gave them a 69-54 lead with 5:33 left.

Greg Anthony scored 17 points for Portland (13-10, 5-5) and Greg Attaway added 16.

White added 17 points for the Waves.

WCAC STANDINGS

Conference AllGames W L W L Pct U. San Diego 9 1 18 4 .818 Gonzaga 7 3 16 7 .696 St. Mary’s 5 5 14 10 .583 Portland 5 5 13 10 .565 Pepperdine 4 6 9 14 .391 USF 4 6 14 9 .609 Santa Clara 4 6 13 11 .542 Loy. Mrymnt 2 8 10 13 .435