Pepperdine Beaten by Boise State in Overtime

Boise State reserve guard Maury Samilton played about 7 seconds in overtime against Pepperdine Thursday night, but it was quality time.

Samilton’s 3-point shot from the right corner gave the Broncos a hard-fought, 63-60 victory before 1,654 fans at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

It was his only shot of the night, and he made it count. Until then Samilton had played just long enough in regulation to get 1 rebound.

As for regulation, the official scorekeeper had little trouble keeping track of Pepperdine’s field goals. The Waves had 3 baskets in the first half, getting 2 in the first 4 1/4 minutes and the third, a 3-pointer by Shann Ferch, with 1:04 left in the half.

Not only did Pepperdine (8-7) find it hard to buy a basket, Coach Bobby Dye’s nose-to-nose, man-to-man defense made it seem that Boise State had none for sale.

Not only did the Broncos play tight defense, they were not above a little hand-to-hand combat when it came to committing personal fouls. Boise State, which won its ninth straight game afer a season-opening loss to Akron, was called for 31 personal fouls.

The Waves almost never had an open shot. Pepperdine, with only 2 field goals, still managed a 20-18 lead with about 6 minutes remaining in the first half.

Boise State led at halftime, 30-27.

In the second half, Craig Davis hit 2 straight 3-pointers to give the Waves a 35-33 advantage. After the lead changed hands a couple of times, Pepperdine expanded its lead to 44-39 when Dexter Howard stole the ball and drove the length of the court for a layup.

The teams grudgingly traded baskets for the next 6 minutes, and then went nearly 4 minutes without a point for either side, exchanging only a few free throws.

Rick Welch hit the front end of a one-and-one to give the Waves their largest lead of the night, 54-48, with 1:58 left.

But 3-pointers by Chris Childs and Wilson Foster cut Pepperdine’s lead to 56-54 at 1:28.

Tom Lewis missed the front end of a one-and-one, Boise State got the rebound, and David Lowery’s layup made it 56-56.

Craig Davis missed a shot from the corner with 9 seconds left; the Broncos got the rebound and called time out.

Welch fouled Foster before the buzzer sounded, but Foster missed his first one-and one attempt, and the game went into overtime.

There wasn’t much scoring in overtime either, but a 3-pointer by Davis tied it at 60-60.

With 9 seconds left in overtime, Childs put up an air ball that Casey Crawford caught. But Crawford was called for traveling, and the Broncos got the ball back with 7 seconds left and called time.

Samilton was put in the lineup to take his 3-pointer; he took it, made it, and the game was over.

Foster scored a game-high 18 points, and Howard led Pepperdine with 17.