Portland Turns the Tide on Pepperdine, Again

Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar stood outside the locker room wearing a bemused smile, but there was nothing funny about his emotions.

Not after Chivo Anderson hit a leaning three-point basket with 26 seconds to play to give Portland a 52-49 come-from-behind victory over the Waves in a West Coast Conference basketball game Saturday night at Firestone Fieldhouse.

“I can’t get used to this,” said Romar, whose team lost at Portland last week in similar fashion. “I’ve seen it all this year. It’s unbelievable.”

Pepperdine (5-15, 3-5 in the WCC) appeared in position to post back-to-back victories for the first time this season after taking a 46-42 lead on two free throws by Tommie Prince with 4:16 to play.

From there, though, the Waves ebbed badly. They went without a basket in the final six minutes, which included a basket interference violation that negated a Marques Johnson jump shot and a technical foul against Romar--the first of the coaching career--that led to three Portland free throws on the same possession.

After riding a high in Friday’s 80-65 victory over Gonzaga, Pepperdine searched for answers to its latest collapse.

“Mentally, we weren’t in it,” said Wave center Bryan Hill, who was held to eight points after scoring a career-best 27 on Friday. He got off only four shots against Portland’s double-teaming post defense, the first attempt not coming until 3:10 into the second half.

In last week’s disaster at Portland, a Pepperdine foul on a three-point attempt allowed the Pilots to score three points in the last two seconds of regulation to tie the score before winning, 69-68, in overtime.

Portland (9-11, 4-4), extending its winning streak over the Waves to eight games, tied the score, 46-46, on two free throws by center Greg Klosterman with 2:56 to play. Pepperdine set up Hill inside, but the junior missed an off-balanced shot while being defended by Klosterman.

Romar, believing Hill was fouled, argued the call and was assessed a technical.

“I said, ‘Where’s the foul?’ and the official across the court called a technical,” Romar said. “Maybe it was because I was jumping up and down, but I’ve seen much worse.”

Klosterman, who finished with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, made one of two free throws and, after Portland retained possession, Dionn Holton’s two foul shots put the Pilots ahead, 49-46, with 1:52 left.

Pepperdine tied the score on two free throws by Hill and one by R.J. Powell, setting the stage for Anderson.

After a scramble for a loose ball, Anderson came up with it and, with the shot clock running down, launched his winning basket from a few feet behind the three-point line.

“I knew I had to get it up in a hurry,” Anderson said. “I told Dionn in the timeout [before the shot] that if he got me the ball, I’d knock it down.”

Pepperdine missed a chance to tie when Prince’s three-point shot bounced off the rim with three seconds left.