Pepperdine Changes Luck, Prevails in a Close Game

The Pepperdine basketball team hasn’t had much luck in close games this season.

But the Waves withstood a late rally by the University of San Diego before pulling away for an 85-75 West Coast Conference win Thursday night before 2,071 at the USD Sports Center.

It was a welcome relief for Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury, who had watched his team lose five games by a combined 22 points.

“This game really was closer than the score indicates, and we haven’t won many close games this year,” Asbury said. “But tonight we were resilient. We finally played like an experienced team.”

Pepperdine, 10-5 overall and 2-1 in the conference, led most of the way, but couldn’t shake the Toreros (9-5, 1-2) until late.

The Waves went ahead to stay, 11-9, on a three-point basket by point guard Bryan Parker that started an 11-0 run midway through the first half.

They held a 46-35 halftime advantage before San Diego pulled to within three points at 64-61 with 9:09 remaining.

But the Waves pulled away behind senior forward Dana Jones, who scored 10 of his season-high 27 points in the final nine minutes.

“I thought he had maybe 15 or 16 points, but that’s just Dana,” Asbury said. “He gets his points without you really noticing.”

San Diego Coach Hank Egan noticed.

“The guy seems to get his hands on the ball all the time,” he said. “He’s just a very good basketball player.”

Pepperdine made 64.5% of its shots in the first half and finished at 53.6%.