Aug. 18, 2006

Montreaux, Switzerland - Through two games of its 10-day European Exhibition Tour, the Pepperdine men's basketball team has a 1-1 record. Under first-year head coach Vance Walberg, the Waves lost 105-93 to St. Chamond in Lyon, France on Thursday. The team rebounded with a 102-69 victory over Monthey, a Swiss professional team in Montreaux, Switzerland.

In Wednesday's opener, six different Pepperdine players scored in double figures and were led by sophomore forward Chris Oakes who poured in 18 points and added six rebounds. Joining Oakes in double figures were senior guards Marvin Lea and Gregg Barlow with 16 points each. Sophomore guard Mike Gerrity poured in 14 points while senior guard Chase Griffin and sophomore guard Tomas Pranciliauskas added 12 points apiece.

The Waves put up 100 shots in the game, connecting on 34 of 100 (34.0) field goal attempts, including 10 of 39 (26.0) from behind the three-point arc.

Playing with just eight players, Pepperdine fell behind 15-0 and trailed the entire game. However, the Waves forced 34 turnovers and trimmed the deficit to three points with five minutes remaining.

In addition to his 14 points, Gerrity recorded a team-high five steals and added three assists, while Lea led Pepperdine with seven rebounds, had three steals and totaled two assists.

Griffin led the Waves in their win over Monthey as he scored a team-high 24 points, grabbed six rebounds, had two assists and two steals. Gerrity contributed nine assists while Oakes and Lea totaled a team-high seven rebounds apiece.

"We are continuing to improve daily as the kids play hard, play smart and stay together," Walberg said.

Pepperdine is next in action on Saturday when it plays Friburg Olympic in Switzerland beginning at 5 p.m. local time.

Since arriving in France on Monday, the Waves have spent time traveling around Paris and visiting such sights as the Palace at Versailles and Notre Dame Cathedral where they caught a glimpse of high mass for the official holiday of Ascension. A boat tour down the Seine River and a trip up the Eiffel Tower capped off the Paris portion of Pepperdine's 10-day excursion.