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Waves Torch Toreros, 83-67

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From Times Staff Reports

Glen McGowan may have been a one-man wrecking crew for Pepperdine over the last two weeks, but a couple of other Waves showed Friday night that they could carry the team if need be.

With McGowan sitting on the bench in foul trouble as the first half wound down against San Diego, Pepperdine turned a 12-point deficit into a two-point lead, then went on to rout the Toreros, 83-67, in a West Coast Conference opener at Pepperdine.

Coming off a 31-point, 22-rebound performance Monday night against Colorado State, McGowan went to the bench after picking up his second foul with 7 minutes 36 seconds remaining in the first half. He had only three points and no rebounds and Pepperdine soon trailed, 31-19.

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Alex Acker picked up the slack and Kingsley Costain came of the bench to provide a spark for the Waves, who ended the half on a 16-2 run and took a 35-33 halftime lead. Acker scored seven of his 21 points during that stretch.

“Everybody was keying on me because of what I did on Monday and I got in some foul trouble,” McGowan said. “But I knew my teammates could hold it down for me.”

McGowan had a solid second half, finishing with 22 points and eight rebounds as Pepperdine (11-5) opened a 69-48 lead with 5:46 left, but the play of his teammates in his absence keyed the victory.

“He’s not our whole team,” Coach Paul Westphal said. “He’s definitely an impact player, but we’ve got other guys who can play.”

Yakhouba Diawara finished with 22 points and nine rebounds and Costain, a 5-foot-7 freshman, had 10 points and six assists in only 26 minutes.

Brandon Gay had a game-high 26 points for San Diego (8-6), which had a five-game win streak end.

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-- Peter Yoon

Loyola Marymount 68, San Francisco 65 -- Charles Brown’s three-point basket gave the Lions (9-5, 1-0 in West Coast play) the lead for good, then the defense of Wes Wardrop and Matthew Knight secured the win before 1,483 at Gersten Pavilion.

There were five ties and 15 lead changes in the second half. After San Francisco’s John Cox made one of two free throws for a 65-63 lead, Brown made his three-point basket with 1:07 left.

Wardrop drew a charging foul on Cox, but Loyola’s Damian Martin was called for traveling at the other end, giving the Dons (9-5, 0-1) another chance.

Cox, who finished with 23 points, got the inbounds pass and handed the ball to guard Andre Hazel, who drove to the basket only to have Knight block his shot with 3.6 seconds remaining.

“I wasn’t too sure what’d the call would be and thankfully nothing was called,” Knight said.

Wardrop grabbed the ball and was fouled with 2.5 seconds left. He made two free throws, setting up a desperation three-point try by the Dons’ Tyrone Riley, who misfired at the buzzer.

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“In the last three minutes when it was winning time, our guys stepped up and played great defensively,” Lion Coach Steve Aggers said.

Knight had 12 points for the Lions, who committed 19 turnovers but held the Dons to 36.8% shooting.

-- Eric Stephens

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