Pepperdine Falls After Late Rally

Pepperdine rallied, but Mark Nees scored all seven of San Francisco’s points during a decisive second-half stretch as the Dons held off the visiting Waves, 56-46, Thursday night for their fifth consecutive home victory.

Pepperdine, 6-19 overall and 4-9 in the West Coast Conference, was held without an offensive rebound while San Francisco (13-12, 8-5) scored 15 second-chance points.

Nees’ consecutive put-back baskets gave the Dons a 45-35 lead, their biggest of the night, with 9:14 to play.

The Waves then outscored the Dons, 11-3, over the next six minutes and Khary Harvey’s free throws with 3:45 to go brought Pepperdine within 48-46, but those were the last points the Waves would score. They missed seven shots down the stretch.

Bryan Hill led Pepperdine with 13 points. Hakeem Ward scored 14 for San Francisco.

San Diego 72, Loyola Marymount 69--The Lions (6-19, 3-10) were done in by two reserves as Brian Miles scored a career-high 26 points and Alex Davis had 15 of his 17 points in the second half at San Diego. San Diego improved to 15-10, 7-6.

Ben Ammerman led Loyola Marymount with 20 points and seven rebounds. John Anthony and Kenny Hotopp had 11 points apiece.

The Lions, who beat the Toreros, 73-68, when they played last month at Loyola Marymount, suffered their sixth consecutive loss. The victory was the fourth in a row for San Diego.

BIG WEST CONFERENCE

Pacific 81, Cal State Fullerton 57--Tim Bowman scored 21 points and Rayne Mahaffey had 18 as the Tigers (19-4, 10-3) routed the Titans (11-12, 4-9) to clinch at least a tie for the Big West’s Western Division title.

Chris Dade led Fullerton with 18 points and freshman Josh Leighton came off the bench to score 14.

Long Beach State 89, UC Irvine 63--Brandon Titus scored 22 points for the 49ers before 3,660 at the Pyramid.

James Cotton, the Big West’s leading scorer, had 21 points for Long Beach, which improved to 11-12 overall and 7-6 in the conference.

Lamarr Parker led Irvine with 16 points. The Anteaters (1-21, 1-12) have lost eight in a row.

T.J. Atkins scored 18 points, including a steal and game-winning layup with four seconds to go, as North Texas (10-13, 5-8) beat Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (13-14, 5-8), 73-72, at Denton, Texas. . . . Louis Richardson scored 17 points as New Mexico State (15-8, 9-4) clinched a berth in the Big West tournament with a 74-65 victory over UC Santa Barbara (10-13, 5-8) at Las Cruces, N.M. . . . Faron Hand scored 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to spark Nevada (16-7, 10-4) to a 76-66 victory over Boise State (13-10, 8-5) at Reno, Nev. . . . Marcus Saxon scored 16 points as Utah State (17-7, 10-3) ran past Idaho (12-15, 4-9), 69-58, at Logan, Utah.

BIG SKY CONFERENCE

Cal State Northridge 89, Weber State 76--Trenton Cross scored 22 points and Gerald Rhoden broke out of a slump with 20 as the Matadors (11-12, 7-6) convincingly beat the Wildcats (12-12, 7-7), earning their most significant road victory of the season, leapfrogging Weber State into fifth place in the Big Sky Conference and clinching a spot in the six-team conference tournament.

Northridge has won the first three games of five in a row on the road.