Waves Overcome Christie’s Absence, 65-56 : Pepperdine: Lear is held scoreless in first half, then gets 15 points against San Francisco.

Pepperdine’s players said they would close ranks after leading scorer Doug Christie was injured--and they did.,

Only seven of the nine Waves in uniform played Sunday night. But all seven played well in a 65-56 victory over the University of San Francisco in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament at Toso Pavilion.

Pepperdine (21-8) won its 15th consecutive game and will meet St. Mary’s in the WCC tournament final at 9 tonight. The winner will receive the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

Geoff Lear, Pepperdine’s power forward, did not play well in the first half.

Before the intermission, he missed all nine of his shots, did not attempt a free throw and was called for traveling several times.

His inability to score was a big reason why the Waves held only a 27-26 lead at halftime.

But he made seven of nine shots in the second half, including four down the stretch to help hold off the Dons (12-17). Lear finished with 15 points.

Christie, the conference player of the year, suffered torn cartilage in his right knee after he fell while attempting a shot in a tournament victory Saturday over Portland.

Christie, a 6-foot-6 off-guard, is scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery Wednesday. His recovery is expected to take six weeks.

But his teammates made up for his absence against USF.

Both coaches, Pepperdine’s Tom Asbury and USF’s Jim Brovelli, said the critical point of the game came after USF forward Darryl Johnson had made a three-point play to tie the score at 50 with 5:17 to play.

But Pepperdine point guard Rick Welch, who finished with 11 points, responded with one of his three baskets from three-point range.

USF then missed a couple of shots and committed turnovers on three possessions.

With 1:52 remaining and Pepperdine leading, 59-50, Welch fell while struggling for a loose ball with USF’s James Bell, turned his ankle and left the game.

But moments later, Welch returned and finished the game. He is expected to be able to play tonight.

Asbury said that his players overcame “trying too hard in the first half. You don’t win 15 straight games without kids that rise to the occasion and do a good job.”