Pepperdine Wins WCC Championship

Brandon Armstrong scored 19 points and Pepperdine beat St. Mary’s, 71-42, Saturday at Moraga, Calif., to clinch its first regular season West Coast Conference championship in seven years.

Craig Lewis had 10 points and Kelvin Gibbs had 11 rebounds to help Pepperdine (22-7, 12-2 in the WCC) bounce back from Thursday’s 73-62 loss at San Diego.

The Waves enter next weekend’s conference tournament at Santa Clara as the No. 1 seeded team. They will play Loyola Marymount.

Frank Allocco’s 16 points led St. Mary’s (8-19, 3-11). No other player scored in double figures for the Gaels, who lost for the ninth time in 10 games.

Ahead 34-23 at halftime, Pepperdine took control with a 12-2 run starting the second half.

Nick Sheppard’s driving layup touched it off, Tezale Archie made two free throws after St. Mary’s Coach Dave Bollwinkel drew a technical foul for arguing with officials, and Armstrong finished the run with a fast-break layup and a three-point basket.