Fairfield Three-Pointer Sinks Pepperdine Late

Michael Bell made a three-point basket with 43 seconds left as Fairfield rallied to beat Pepperdine, 60-56, on Monday night in the semifinals of the Rainbow Classic at Honolulu.

Fairfield (7-1) advances to tonight’s championship against the winner of a late game involving Hawaii and Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis.

With the score tied at 56-56, Terrence Todd drove from the top of the key and passed it out to Bell who made the game-winning shot. Bell finished with 13 points.

Pepperdine had a chance to tie, but Glen McGowan missed two three-pointers and Bell made a free throw to seal the victory.

Todd finished with 14 points and DeWitt Maxwell had 13 for Fairfield. Pepperdine (5-7) was led by Terrance Johnson’s 16 and Alex Acker’s 15.

A night earlier, Acker scored 16 points to lead Pepperdine to an 82-69 victory over American.

Sacramento State 66, UC Riverside 55 -- Joseth Dawson’s 15 points and Chris Lange’s 10 rebounds helped lift the Hornets (6-6) over the Highlanders (3-5) at Sacramento.

Ricky Porter had 13 points to lead UC Riverside, which is 0-5 on the road this season. Vili Morton and David Jobe scored nine apiece.

After opening the game with four dunks in seven minutes, Sacramento State built a 27-19 lead when Jameel Pugh made a basket with 3:45 left in the first half.