Waves Roll Past Tired Towson St.

In what has been an up-and-down season, Pepperdine was on a high Wednesday night, defeating Towson State, 91-79, before 1,328 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

The Waves (6-6), who appeared disorganized and confused in a 56-54 loss to Monmouth Tuesday night, played with sharpness and purpose against Towson State--except for a couple of second-half lapses.

Meanwhile, the Tigers (6-6) and leading scorer Kurk Lee, seemed to be tired and listless.

Pepperdine shot 60.7% (17 of 28) in the first half. The Tigers shot only 42.9%, and Lee wasn’t hitting from outside.

The Waves, who shot only 29.2% and scored 20 points in the first half against Monmouth, appeared much more confident against Towson State.

Pepperdine used runs of 8-0 and 14-0 en route to a 46-29 halftime lead.

In contrast, the Tigers, who are supposed to be the team to beat in the East Coast Conference, appeared to be just beat. The fact they were playing the last game of an 11-game trip probably had something to do with it.

But the Tigers must have had a good nap at halftime because they came out snarling in the second half. Towson State outscored Pepperdine, 19-6, and cut the lead to 54-48 with 13:38 left.

Towson State began dropping further behind after that, but a three-point play by Lee pulled the Tigers to within 71-65 with 6:41 remaining.

But Dexter Howard and Tom Lewis went back to making timely baskets, and the Waves managed to pull away.

Lee, the ECC Player of the Year last season, scored eight points in the first half, but made only four of 12 shots and got all four baskets inside.

Howard led the Waves with 25 points, Lewis added 22, and Lear had 18.

Lee, averaging 27.5 points entering the game, finished with 24.