Nov. 18, 2006

Box Score

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A spirited second-half comeback sparked by a tenacious pressure defense brought Pepperdine back from a 17-point deficit to a five-point lead with as many as five minutes remaining only to see it disappear in the final minute as the Waves suffered a tough 95-92 loss to Cal State Northridge at The Matadome Saturday afternoon.

Pepperdine (1-3) held a 92-91 lead with 42 seconds remaining before Cal State Northridge's Terrell Jones sank two free throws with 36.4 seconds left to give the Matadors (4-1) one-point lead.

Jones then poked the ball away from a driving Jason Walberg, recovered it and passed to Rai Colston, who was fouled and made both free throws to seal the victory.

Senior guard Gregg Barlow scored a career-high 24 points to finish as the game's leading scorer. Senior guards Marvin Lea, who scored all his points in the second half, and Chase Griffin each added 16 points while Walberg contributed 15.

Reserve Jordan Noblitt scored a career-high 22 points for Cal State Northridge. Jonathan Heard added 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Calvin Chitwood had 18 points before fouling out.

Pepperdine trailed 49-36 at halftime and fell further behind before mounting a 17-2 run that put the Waves down by two with 13:50 to play.

A 15-5 run gave Pepperdine an 84-79 lead. Heard scored five points in a 7-0 run that put the Matadors back in front 89-85. Pepperdine regained the lead 92-91 with six consecutive points.

Pepperdine was able to get back in the game by forcing 16 turnovers in the second half. The Waves forced a season-high 31 turnovers.

However, Pepperdine's comeback attempt was hurt by a lack of presence on the boards as the Waves were out-rebounded 52-24.

The Waves return to action on Tuesday when they host UC Santa Barbara in their home opener at Firestone Fieldhouse beginning at 7 p.m.