Pepperdine Upstages Santa Clara

You gotta believe.

That was the message Pepperdine interim Coach Marty Wilson gave his players before they played Santa Clara on Friday night, and that was the reason he gave for the Waves’ improbable 72-69 victory before 3,715 at Toso Pavilion.

“We talked about believing,” said Wilson, 29, who took over after Tony Fuller’s sudden resignation last Saturday.

“We’ve just been talking about positive thinking and not giving up. That’s what got us through tonight. No one expected us to beat Santa Clara.”

Suiting up only eight players and using only seven, Pepperdine (8-9 overall, 1-4 in the conference) rallied from deficits of 12 points in the first half and nine in the second to end a five-game losing streak and earn its first West Coast Conference victory.

Guard Gerald Brown made the clutch plays down the stretch, making a shot from just inside the top of the key with 1:07 left to give the Waves a 70-68 lead, and sinking two free throws with 16 seconds left to account for the final score.

In between Brown’s heroics, Pepperdine survived a near-disastrous mistake. After forward Drew Zurek made one of two free throws to pull Santa Clara (12-5, 3-2) within 70-69, Pepperdine center Gavin Van Der Putten threw an errant inbound pass that was intercepted by Jason Sedlock.

After a timeout, Santa Clara got the ball to guard Steve Nash, who missed a jump shot that was rebounded by Brown. Sedlock fouled Brown, leading to the two free throws.

Nash, who led the Broncos with 17 points, got off two three-point shots in the final seconds, but he missed the first and had the second blocked by Wave forward Bryan Hill.

“Awesome,” Wilson said. ‘If I could retire right now, I would.”

Guard Marques Johnson led Pepperdine with 21 points, and Brown and Hill (12 rebounds) each scored 18.