Waves Stay Calm Down the Stretch

Fouls and illness threatened to make it a rough Saturday night for Pepperdine, but the Waves didn’t panic when trouble struck.

Fending off a challenge from last-place San Diego, Pepperdine kept its composure down the stretch and pulled away for a 74-63 West Coast Conference victory before a season-high crowd of 3,210 at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Forward Bryan Hill led the Waves with 20 points despite playing only 22 minutes because of foul trouble. The 6-foot-7 senior was benched after picking up his fourth foul with 12:03 to play, depleting a front line that was without starting forward Kelvin Gibbs, who played only briefly because of illness.

Instead of caving in, though, Pepperdine extended a six-point lead in Hill’s absence and then put the Toreros away when he returned with just under five minutes to play.

“We played smart basketball down the stretch,” Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar said.

“San Diego did a good job of defending us early, but our guys stayed focused and went back to fundamentals.”

Jelani Gardner’s pin-point passing sparked an 11-3 run that gave the Waves a 70-55 lead with 2:33 to play. Gardner, who had 12 points and 12 assists, made passes that resulted in layups for Marc McDowell, Hill and Gerald Brown on three successive possessions during the stretch.

Gardner then took the ball to basket himself, scoring on a breakaway dunk.

“Jelani made some unbelievable passes,” Romar said.

“There’s not many players who can thread the needle like that.”

With its third consecutive victory, Pepperdine (13-7, 5-3 in the WCC) moved into a tie for third with Santa Clara, one game behind co-leaders Gonzaga and Portland.

Forward Brian Miles scored 19 points for San Diego (9-11, 1-7).

It was the Waves’ first two-game conference sweep in two seasons under Romar, coming after a 91-65 victory over St. Mary’s on Friday.

Center omm’A Givens, a reserve since punching and breaking the jaw of teammate Aaron Butler in practice Jan. 13, gave Pepperdine a needed lift with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Although Brown, the Waves’ leading scorer, is still struggling to hit his jump shot, the senior guard contributed 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

After shredding St. Mary’s for 18 baskets on either dunks or layups Friday, the Waves struggled early to get close-range shots against San Diego’s aggressive man-to-man defense.

The Toreros used a 12-3 run to take a 31-23 lead before Pepperdine started to assert itself inside.