Pepperdine Gets Last Call

Pepperdine and Santa Clara played a game so close Saturday night, that even when it was over, it wasn’t over.

With his team trailing by three points, Santa Clara guard Doron Perkins banked in a three-point shot from just inside half court at the final buzzer for an apparent tying basket.

Officials checked the replay monitor, however, and determined the ball left Perkins’ hand after time expired and Pepperdine had a 93-90 victory at Malibu.

Pepperdine (12-14, 7-4 West Coast Conference) seemed to have control after free-throw specialist Chase Griffin made two free throws to give the Waves a 93-88 lead with 14 seconds to play.

But twice in the final seven seconds, Pepperdine fouled Perkins on three-point attempts. Perkins, who scored 11 points in the final two minutes, made one of three shots on each trip to the line and Santa Clara (13-13, 5-6) cut the deficit to 93-90.

“Pepperdine is a fine academic institution, but after we made those fouls, I thought they had lowered the standards,” Pepperdine Coach Paul Westphal said. “We got away with some stupid fouls.”

Alex Acker had 27 points and Glen McGowan had 21 for Pepperdine, which made 10 of 16 three-point field goals and matched its second-highest point total this season.

Perkins had a career-high 27 points and J.R. Patrick had a career-high 19 for Santa Clara.

-- Peter Yoon

Loyola Marymount 66, San Diego 64 -- Sherman Gay and Keith Kincade combined to score all but one of the Lions’ points in the second half in helping them fend off a late charge by the last-place Toreros in a WCC game at Loyola Marymount.

Gay finished with 24 points and Kincade had a season-high 23 for Loyola Marymount (13-11, 4-7), which won consecutive games for the first time in over a month.

Gay’s layup gave the Lions a 66-60 lead with 58.8 seconds left but San Diego (4-21, 1-9) got within three points on a three-pointer by Brad Lechtenberg.

Kincade scored 11 consecutive points to push the Lions’ lead to 59-49, but San Diego responded with an 11-2 run, capped by a Lechtenberg three-pointer.

Brice Vounang led the Toreros with 21 points.

-- Eric Stephens

Cal State Fullerton 77, Long Beach State 76 -- Jabril Hodges missed an off-balance jumper with three seconds remaining and Fullerton hung on for its third consecutive victory at Titan Gym.

Yaphett King scored a career-high 23 points and Anthony Bolton had 19 for Fullerton. Kevin Roberts had 27 points for the 49ers, who lost their fifth in a row.

Fullerton (9-12, 5-7) led, 31-13, after a three-pointer by King with 8:56 left in the first half.

But Long Beach State (6-16, 4-9) used a 16-1 run for a 57-49 lead after a layup by Antoine Jackson with 14:13 to play.

A layup by Bolton off an inbounds pass from Bobby Brown with 6:05 to go tied score, 64-64. The lead changed hands or was tied nine times after that until Brown made two free throws with 12 seconds remaining.

-- Paul McLeod

UC Riverside 72, UC Irvine 54 -- Rickey Porter tied his career high with 15 points to lead the host Highlanders (8-12, 5-7 Big West) to their first victory over Irvine (9-13, 4-9) since 1977. Irvine has lost seven in a row.

Idaho 60, Cal State Northridge 56 -- Tyrone Hayes scored 21 points to lift the Vandals (10-13, 6-7 Big West) at Northridge (9-12, 5-8), which got 21 points from Davin White.

UC Santa Barbara 73, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 57 -- Branduinn Fullove scored 17 points to lead the Gauchos (13-8, 7-5 Big West) at Santa Barbara.

The Mustangs (8-12, 3-9) committed 11 turnovers in the first half, helping Santa Barbara unleash a 17-0 run.