Pepperdine Falls Out of First

Richie Frahm scored 13 points, all during a second-half comeback, and Gonzaga rallied to beat Pepperdine, 62-57, Thursday night in Spokane, Wash., in a showdown for the West Coast Conference lead.

Gonzaga (17-5, 7-0 in conference play) trailed, 36-23, at halftime, but outscored the Waves, 39-21, in the second half by limiting Pepperdine to 23% shooting.

Pepperdine (16-6, 6-1) scored only seven points in the final 11 minutes, three on Kelvin Gibbs’ basket in the final seconds when the outcome was decided.

The Waves led, 50-40, with 11 minutes left, but suffered several turnovers and missed shots that allowed Gonzaga to chip away at the lead.

Axel Dench’s dunk brought Gonzaga to within 52-50 with 4:59 left.

After a pair of free throws by Pepperdine’s Nick Sheppard, Dench made a three-pointer to lift Gonzaga to within 54-53. Dench finished with 14 points.

The Bulldogs then went on a 9-0 run. Frahm’s finger-roll gave Gonzaga its first lead, 55-54, with 2:55 left.

Dench followed with a three-pointer and Matt Santangelo hit a reverse layup and two free throws for a 62-54 Gonzaga lead with less than a minute left.

Santangelo finished with 15 points to lead all scorers.

Pepperdine guard Tezale Archie scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half but made only five of 17 shots.

Guard Brandon Armstrong scored nine of his 10 points in the first half.

Pepperdine center Nick Sheppard had eight rebounds as the Waves outrebounded the Bulldogs, 45-39.

Gonzaga extended its home winning streak to 19 and Pepperdine had an eight-game winning streak snapped.