Pepperdine Rally Turns Back 49ers

Pepperdine’s basketball team finally has a reason to smile.

After losing their first two games and suffering the emotional loss of center Will Kimble, the Waves reversed their recent misfortunes Monday night by hanging on for a 65-63 victory over Long Beach State in front of 1,914 at the Pyramid in Long Beach.

Senior forward Jimmy Miggins ignited a late run for Pepperdine (1-2), which overcame a seven-point deficit in the last five minutes and withstood the torrid shooting of Long Beach guard Tony Darden, who scored a game-high 24 points by tying a school record with eight three-point baskets.

“It was real important,” Miggins said of the victory. “We got off to a bad start, but we know it’s a long season. We got the monkey off our back now. If we continue to focus and play hard, I think we’ll be all right.”

Miggins scored seven points during an 11-0 run that turned a 61-54 Pepperdine deficit into a 65-61 lead with 1:40 to play. Kevin Roberts made a shot in the lane to pull Long Beach within two points with 1:08 left.

Miggins bought Pepperdine some time by rebounding his miss, but Wave guard Devin Montgomery missed a one-and-one free throw with 8.8 seconds left. Long Beach forward Lemi Williams got the rebound, drove the court and missed a 10-foot bank shot at the buzzer.

“We needed it,” Pepperdine Coach Paul Westphal said.

It was good news for a team coping with a decimated front line.

Kimble was diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening heart condition that caused him to pass out at practice last Tuesday. He is seeking additional medical opinions, but for now his basketball career is considered over.

The loss of the 6-foot-10 Kimble and the absence of 6-9 forward Glen McGowan, who sat out his third consecutive game because of a nagging knee injury, has forced Westphal to juggle his lineup. McGowan is scheduled to have an MRI exam today.

Early in the game, Pepperdine appeared headed for its first 0-3 start since 1973. The Waves missed five of their first six free throws, committed turnovers and fell behind, 21-7, when Darden hit the third of his five three-point baskets in the first half.

“They put us in a big hole,” Westphal said. “Darden was unbelievable. You can’t shoot that good if there’s nobody guarding you. And sometimes there wasn’t anybody guarding him.”

The Waves rallied to tie the score, 33-33, behind the shooting of sophomore guard Terrance Johnson and an aggressive press. Johnson made three of four three-point baskets and Pepperdine forced the 49ers into 14 turnovers in the first half, which ended with Long Beach leading, 36-33, on a Darden three-pointer.

The Waves opened the second half with a 10-0 run and led until Darden made successive three-point baskets to ignite a 13-0 run that provided Long Beach (1-2) a 61-54 lead with 4:32 to play.

Johnson led Pepperdine with 18 points, forward Boomer Brazzle had 13 and Miggins scored 11.