Waves’ Rally Falls Short

John Cox scored 24 points and Darrell Tucker, who missed the previous six games because of a thumb injury, returned to score 21 as San Francisco defeated Pepperdine, 87-77, Friday night at San Francisco.

The Dons (8-11, 3-3 West Coast Conference) broke out to an 18-9 lead and built it to 54-34 early in the second half. But the Waves (11-8, 3-3) rallied behind Terrance Johnson and Jimmy Miggins, who each scored 18 points, to close within two points with 2:20 to play.

But San Francisco went on a 7-0 run to secure the victory.

Sharnell Stallworth and Alvin Broussard each had 14 points and James Bayless had 12 for San Francisco.

Boomer Brazzle added 17 points for Pepperdine, which plays tonight at St. Mary’s. The Waves are 8-4 on the road.

St. Mary’s 71, Loyola Marymount 60 -- Daniel Kickert scored 17 points at Moraga and the Gaels moved into a tie with San Diego for second place in the WCC.

Adam Caporn added 13 points for St. Mary’s (10-8, 3-2).

Brandon Worthy led Loyola Marymount (7-14, 1-5) with 13 points off the bench. Keith Kincade had 12 and Charles Brown scored 11. Sherman Guy scored 10 points and had a game-high nine rebounds.

Loyola Marymount trailed by eight points at the half and tied the score at 53-53 with 5:30 to play, but St. Mary’s made 12 free throws in the closing minutes to pull away.

Kickert and Samuel Saint-Jean each had eight rebounds for the Gaels. Saint-Jean also scored 10 points and had eight assists.

Loyola Marymount plays tonight at San Francisco.