Waves Let Big Lead Slip Away in Defeat

Pepperdine squandered a 16-point lead in the last 14 minutes and lost to St. Mary’s, 73-67, Saturday night in a West Coast Conference game at St. Mary’s.

It was the second loss in a row for the Waves (13-9, 5-5 in the WCC), who were outscored, 42-29, in the second half.

St. Mary’s (10-12, 5-5) took the lead on a layup by guard David Sivulich with 1:59 to play. Sivulich, who was held to nine points last week in Pepperdine’s 91-65 victory over the Gaels in Malibu, made three of four free throws in the final 40 seconds and finished with 17 points.

Guard Jelani Gardner led Pepperdine with 15 points and eight assists but he was slowed down the stretch by O’Neal Kamaka’s aggressive defense and a bruised tailbone suffered Thursday in a 78-70 loss to San Diego.

“Not to take anything away from Kamaka, but Jelani could hardly walk [Friday],” Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar said.

Gardner helped the Waves take a 38-31 halftime lead by making four of five three-point shots and scoring 12 points in the first half.

After making six of nine three-point shots in the first half, Pepperdine connected on only one of five attempts from behind the arc in the second half.

“We got away from what we wanted to do offensively,” said Romar, whose team is tied for fourth place with St. Mary’s, two games behind WCC co-leaders Gonzaga and Santa Clara. “[St. Mary’s] is a gritty bunch and you have to credit them for coming back.”

Gael forward Eric Schrader had 17 points to share game-high scoring honors with Sivulich, and reserve guard Frank Knight scored 11, making three of four three-point shots.

St. Mary’s made eight of 16 three-point shots.

St. Mary’s Coach Dave Bollwinkel said his team wanted to make Pepperdine work on defense.

“The Waves have to be our toughest matchup in conference play,” Bollwinkel said. “We wanted to make them defend for the full 35 seconds [of the shot clock].”

Guard Gerald Brown and forward Bryan Hill each scored 13 points for Pepperdine, which shot 46.6% (27 of 58). Brown had a game-high 14 rebounds and eight assists.

Pepperdine resumes play Friday night with a WCC game against San Francisco.