Pepperdine Can’t Hold On Against Portland

Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar stood outside the locker room, with a bemused smile, but there was nothing funny.

Not after Chivo Anderson hit a 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 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 win successive games for the first time this season after taking a 46-42 lead on two free throws by Tommie Prince with 4:16 to play.

But they went without a basket the rest of the way and had a basket interference violation that negated a Marques Johnson jump shot and a technical foul against Romar--the first of his coaching career--that led to three Portland (9-11, 4-4) free throws on the same possession.

After riding a high in Friday’s 80-65 victory over Gonzaga, Pepperdine dejectedly 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.

Portland tied the score, 46-46, on two free throws by center Greg Klosterman with 2:56 to play. Pepperdine set up Hill inside, but he missed an off-balanced shot.

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