Pacific Rides Wave Past Pepperdine, 64-58

Mike Preston scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, powering Pacific to a 64-58 victory Thursday night over Pepperdine at Stockton.

Preston scored nine of his points in the final six minutes as the Tigers overcame an early nine-point deficit to improve to 4-6.

Pepperdine slipped to 8-5.

A three-pointer by Craig Lewis cut Pacific’s lead to 59-58 with 47 seconds remaining. Preston followed with a layup after a missed free throw and added a dunk for a 63-58 lead with nine seconds to go.

Freshman Tom Cockle added 11 points for the Tigers and registered a key assist to Preston.

Pepperdine, outrebounded 43-34, was led by Tezale Archie’s 14 points and seven assists. Nick Sheppard added 12 points.

The Waves, coming off a two-point loss at UCLA, came out flat and didn’t get going until Brandon Armstrong and David Lalazarian fueled a 16-5 run for a 21-12 lead.

But the Tigers, playing without starters Nathan Davis (knee surgery) and Dan Masters (illness), outscored the Waves, 14-7, over the final 7:22 to pull within 28-26 at halftime.