Pepperdine Rout Is Slow in the Making : Waves: Undermanned St. Mary’s makes a game of it--for a half--before falling, 81-68.

Because of illness and an injury, already-struggling St. Mary’s started three freshmen Friday night against Pepperdine.

The Waves smelled a rout.

Pepperdine’s olfactory sense was keen enough; its sense of timing was off.

The Waves (12-10 overall, 6-3 in the West Coast Conference) played a strong second half and went on to defeat St. Mary’s, 81-68, before 1,310 at McKeon Pavilion.

The Gaels, who trailed by as many as 22 points in the second half, fell to 6-15 and 3-6.

St. Mary’s played without leading scorer James Dailey, sidelined with a back injury, and center Eric Bamberger, out with mononucleosis.

But the St. Mary’s freshmen, helped by the outside shooting of senior guard Mike Vontoure, kept up with Pepperdine--at least until the second half.

Vontoure scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the first half, including three three-pointers that kept the Gaels going.

Pepperdine, though dominating the backboards, shot 31.5% in the first half.

The first half was a see-saw performance in which the lead changed hands eight times.

But with 24 seconds to play in the half, Shann Ferch made a three-point shot, his fourth of the half, that gave the Waves a 38-37 lead. On St. Mary’s next possession, Tom Lewis, who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, stole the ball and made a breakaway dunk, and Pepperdine led at halftime, 40-37.

Dexter Howard, a San Francisco native who has played mostly a reserve role for Pepperdine, made an infrequent start Friday night. He made it count, igniting a second-half burst that put the game out of reach. Howard scored nine of his team-high 21 points in the first six minutes of the half.

The Waves, who shot 60.7% in the second half, outscored St. Mary’s, 14-3, to take a 54-40 lead. After that, there seemed to be little fight left in the Gaels.

Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said that he started Howard, a senior, because he was making one of his final appearances in the Bay area. “Dexter responded well,” he said.

Asbury said that, though his team shot poorly in the first half, “I knew we’d be fine in the second half because we were killing them on the boards.”

Pepperdine outrebounded St. Mary’s, 52-38, and Wave sophomore Geoff Lear had a game-high 13 rebounds and 13 points. Ferch finished with 15 points on five-of-eight shooting from three-point range.